


Becoming Batwoman | Point Rock, Part II

by EQT_95



Series: Becoming Batwoman [2]
Category: Batwoman (Comic), Batwoman (TV 2019), DCU
Genre: Adventure, F/F, Prequel, batmoore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:55:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 33,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24391666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EQT_95/pseuds/EQT_95
Summary: Kate Kane's second term at Point Rock written as a series of short one-offsSequel to 'Point Rock, Part I' and prequel to 'Curiouser and Curiouser'
Relationships: Kate Kane/Sophie Moore
Series: Becoming Batwoman [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1749118
Comments: 26
Kudos: 44





	1. First Day, Take Two

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! 
> 
> If you haven't already read 'Becoming Batwoman | Point Rock, Part I' I recommend doing so otherwise this story might feel a little out of left field. It focuses on Kate's first term at Point Rock and sets up some of the character relationships that will follow here.

“Hey, Sophie! How was your break?”

“Fine,” Sophie replied, looking past James down the hall.

“Yea? Go anywhere?”

“What? No, just home,” she replied distractedly.

“Aww, that’s too bad. My parents and I went out to Colorado for two weeks. Hit the slopes hard - nearly broke my collarbone! Have you ever been?” James continued, oblivious to Sophie’s lack of interest.

“Huh?”

“To Colorado - have you ever been?”

“No.”

“Oh...” 

“Have you seen Kate?”

“Kate Kane?”

Sophie’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. “What other Kate could I  _ possibly  _ be talking about?”

“I don’t know - usually I’m the one asking you that question.”

“So you haven’t seen her?”

“She’s not back yet,” Melvin interjected from the doorway of his and James’ room. “Won’t be until late tonight. Sorry, couldn’t help but overhear.”

“Oh, right, right, that’s… right,” Sophie replied casually, trying to act like she’d erroneously forgotten this very obvious, very well-distributed information. Melvin’s knowing look though made her want to ask a dozen more questions, but not wanting to seem in the dark about Kate, instead she excused herself and went back to her room.

It had been five weeks since she’d last heard from Kate, and while all of Kate’s belongings were still sitting in their dorm room when she had arrived back to campus that morning, this was the first hard evidence she’d received that Kate was even returning for spring term. For all she knew, Kate had bailed on the Academy, or worse, got kicked out, and that night in December was the last time she’d ever see Kate Kane again. Worse still, after leaving without a word, Kate had also been a ghost to Sophie all break. She’d tried every form of communication she could think of: phone, text, carrier pigeon, smoke signals, but nothing. She weighed taking a trip into Gotham, but quickly realized, even if she was back from D.C., she didn’t actually know where Kate’s dad lived. By new year’s, she was starting to wonder if she’d gone crazy and pulled back, not wanting to seem too clingy.

What’s more, she still had no idea if the Mike Miller thing was resolved. She had the unfortunate timing of literally running into him in the dormitory’s lobby that morning, and a jolt of fear shot through her. This was the kid who had discovered her and Kate weeks before making out in a drunken haze, and she half expected him to call her out in the middle of the lobby. She froze, weighing which path to best flee down when, instead of saying anything, he simply nodded at her with a half smile. She was rattled by the casualness of it: like the way acquaintances might greet each other.

Since then, she had been pacing her room, jumping to attention at the slightest sound of movement near her door. She didn’t know if she was angry or excited to see Kate, and she figured she wouldn’t really know until Kate walked through the door.

* * *

It was hours later. Sophie had begrudgingly left the room for dinner after a group from her floor bullied her into joining them. They were giving her a hard time for wanting to stay in and study before term had even started, and Sophie let them believe that was the case. For an entire hour, Sophie impatiently sat through the group’s stories of holiday travel, distractedly mushing together the rest of her peas and gravy into a muddled color on her plate.

When Melvin announced his plans to return to the dorm, Sophie jumped at the opportunity to join him. A few ‘ooohs’ and a stray ‘awww’ went missed by Sophie who was quickly throwing on her jacket, hoping Kate would be there when she returned.

Melvin smirked at her unawareness, and instead made the groups suggestions more explicit: “My, my Sophie Moore, where is the chase?”

Sophie stared blankly back at him, “Excuse me?”

“First day back and not even making me jump through a few hoops? I’m almost disappointed,” Melvin continued.

“Get a room!” James shouted from across the table before realizing  _ a room _ would mean  _ his room _ . “Her room! Use her room!”

Sophie’s face burned at the suggestion and she quietly stepped away from the table as an amused Melvin followed quickly behind her.

“I was only joking, Sophie,” Melvin said once they had exited into the crisp winter night. Flurries were flying through the air

“Fooled me,” Sophie replied. “And  _ them _ .”

“Oh, that was sort of the point,” Melvin said quietly. Sophie looked up at him in confusion as she watched him appear unphased, looking ahead into the darkness as they walked.

“Wh-how do you mean?”

“Uhm, just… just that Kate told me about… the thing that happened.”

Sophie’s confusion turned quickly to anger. “Well, I’m glad she’s talking to  _ someone _ about it. I’d hate to think she would waste her time on the one other person involved.”

“Hey, woa, I have no fight in this,” Melvin quickly surrendered. “I just figured… you know, might be good to throw people off a bit?”

“When did she tell you?” 

“Oh, that night.”

_ That night? _ Sophie thought, her frustration growing as she realized the reason Kate hadn’t come back was because she was with Melvin. “Well, that’s just great for you.” She responded curtly.

“She didn’t tell you,” Melvin observed, trying to piece together Sophie’s sudden annoyance with the conversation. Sophie’s silence was all the confirmation he needed to go on. “Look, it’s not what you think. I found her in the bathroom with Miller at like, three in the morning. I’d just gotten James’ ass to sleep, and I was just doing my own thing. Then outta nowhere there’s Kate talking to a bawling Miller on the bathroom floor.”

“Bawling?”

“Yea, dude was drunk outta his mind. Kept talking about his ex. And there was Kate, comforting him… well… it was Kate, so there wasn’t  _ actually _ much of that going on,” Melvin chuckled, causing Sophie to nearly smirk in acknowledgment. 

“So what happened?” Sophie asked, half out of genuine curiosity and half out of annoyance.

“Right, so, I ask her what’s up, and she says she found him and wanted to make sure he was good. He seemed fine to me - drunk, sure, but like, nothing he couldn’t sleep off, right? But Kate kept insisting she stay, being all cryptic, so I decided to stay, too. It being the last day of term with nothing better to do, I figured  _ why not _ , but after about ten minutes, Miller was passed out. And I started complaining that we shoulda put him to bed when we had the chance. Then Kate got annoyed, telling me she wasn’t keeping me there and I could just go to bed and then… then she just started  _ crying _ .”

“What?” Sophie asked, not believing her own ears.

“Exactly what I thought. Have you ever seen Kate cry?”

Sophie shook her head. Kate wasn’t easily rattled, and even when she was, her reaction was to internalize it. It was something that frustrated Sophie; she could always tell when something was wrong, but it would take a day or two before Kate would finally open up about it.

“Wh-what… I mean, is-was she ok?”

Melvin gave a half chuckle in response. “Kate Kane was crying on the floor of the men’s bathroom in the middle of the night. What do you think?” he asked rhetorically. Sophie stared ahead at this. It was a redundant question, she knew. “Let’s just say Kate was having an existential crisis of sorts, and if you think it’s hard to get her to talk normally, itt’s nothing compared to when that’s going on. Short story though? She told me about you and her, then Miller’s untimely entrance. She’d found him wandering the hall having locked himself out of his room - his roommate had already left for break - so he had been trying to find somewhere to crash. Kate was getting him settled onto one of the lounge’s couches when Miller pulled a Miller.”

Sophie stared back confusedly, “A Miller?”

“Yea, dude can’t hold his liquor. It’s a real problem at house parties.”

“Oh.”

“So, fast forward to the bathroom, and Kate was staying to make sure he didn’t die, but mostly because she was terrified he’d rat on you two. Fortunately he didn’t remember shit the next morning.”

* * *

Sophie returned to her room and collapsed on her bed. There was still no sign of Kate, but Sophie found herself appreciating the silence for the first time all day. If what Melvin had said was right, that meant her and Kate weren’t at risk of expulsion, but it didn’t explain Kate’s subsequent ghosting. If there was nothing to worry about, why hadn’t Kate responded to her messages or calls? Had Sophie overread the situation? Did Kate see it as a mistake, and her evading tactics were her way of letting Sophie down easy?

The sound of keys outside the door pulled her from her thoughts. She heard a key insert into the lock, and she shot up from her bed as the door swung open, revealing an all-too-familiar silhouette in the doorframe.

“Hi.”

“Hey.”


	2. Communication 201

Silence fell between them, neither quite sure what to say next. It was an unfamiliar feeling. Kate awkwardly sidled into the room, her bags in tow. Sophie stepped back, watching and trying to contain the surge of emotions running through her. Part of her wanted to run up and pick up where they had left off weeks earlier while another part wanted to interrogate Kate for leaving her high and dry, but a bigger part of her was struggling to place Kate's demeanor. It wasn't happy or angry or sad. She looked… nervous? It was an peculiar look for Kate who could unfailingly walk into a room of strangers as the cool-tempered, easy-going socialite.

“So, wh-”

“I’ve been thinking,” Kate began, accidentally interrupting Sophie. She hesitated for a moment, waiting to hear if Sophie would continue, never actually looking over at Sophie. After a beat, she started again. "Uhm, right, so I've been thinking -"

“Oh, so that’s what you’ve been doing the last five weeks?" Sophie interrupted. "You've been  _ thinking _ ? In what, the middle of the Himalayas? Inside a cavern? Did Gotham suddenly become a black hole to all digital communication? Has it regressed back to morse code?"

Kate leaned against her bed frame, glancing up at Sophie's gaze for the first time. She didn’t need to look up to see Sophie was annoyed - she gathered that much from her tone, but seeing the sharpness in her face reinforced how Kate had expected her to react.

"I should have replied, I'm sorry."

Sophie waited a moment to see if Kate would elaborate, but instead a silence hung in the air. 

"What? That’s it? Are you kidding me? That's what you say when you don't call your grandmother back on your birthday," Sophie replied, not buying Kate's apology. She could feel the familiar anger rising in response to the weeks of silence. "You don't get to roll in with some half-assed statement like that after what you did. You ignored me for  _ weeks _ , Kate. Besides hoping you'd respond, the only thing I could think to do all break was check my mailbox every day for a letter informing me of my expulsion because  _ you _ left me high and dry."

She didn't know how she had planned on greeting Kate, but this definitely wasn't it, especially after her conversation with Melvin, but Kate's lack of immediate explanation or words of genuine remorse had her seething.

"You're right, Soph. I-I didn't tell you, and I shouldn't have left you in the dark all break. I get that."

Sophie glared at Kate, about to respond when a knock came at the door. If Kate had looked nervous before, she had just reached a new level as she walked over to the door. She opened it to reveal Chelsea on the other side.

"Hey Kate! Sophie! Oh good, you’re both here. How was your break?!" She started, her never ending energy contrasting starkly with the room's serious tone. 

"Uh, now's not really a great time, Chelsea," Kate began.

"Oh, did you just get back?” Chelsea continued, noting Kate’s jacket, “Totes get it. Just stopping by to bring you the forms. I've filled out all the information, I just need your signatures before I can submit them!"

"Right, th-thanks. Yea, let me… we- I'll get back to you in a bit about this. Still working through some logistics," Kate said cryptically.

"Sure thing; we need it submitted by tomorrow though, so don’t wait too long. I can't tell you how excited I am,  _ roomie _ !" she added with a wink.

With a quick goodbye Kate gratefully shut the door and turned pale-faced to see a stunned Sophie.

"What is that?" Sophie asked, already deducing the answer.

"Uhm, this was what I wanted to talk to you about. I was th-" Kate paused, sighing in frustration, "it might be best if we switch rooms. Chelsea's roommate dropped at semester, so I could move in with her and you'd have this one to yourself."

"I don't understand," was all Sophie could say as she stared back at Kate, trying to absorb the insane proposal. It was the last thing she expected to hear from Kate, and she was having a hard time processing it. 

"Samantha transferred, and so now Chelsea doesn't have a roo-"

"What? No, I'm not an idiot, Kate. I understood your words,” Sophie said, shaking her head in annoyance. “What I don't understand is why you're saying them."

"I don't think we should room together anymore."

Sophie's face fell. "And why not?"

Kate sighed again in a mix of exasperation and resignation. "Do I need to spell it out, Soph? Obviously it's because of what happened."

"Yea? Well as Melvin tells it, there's nothing to be worried about," Sophie replied.

"How…” Kate began, distracted that Sophie had already talked to Melvin about it. “Look, what happened with Miller - we got lucky with him. But that's just it: we got lucky; he could have just as easily remembered and then we’d be beholden to his moral code and you’d be out."

"Let me get clear on this: you want to take the last three months, throw them out, move in with Chelsea, and just act like nothing ever happened? Wouldn't it be easier to just learn how to  _ shut the door _ ?"

"No, that - that's not the point. If y-"

"How is that not the point? That is literally nail-on-the-head the point. You're running because you're afraid some future hiccup will get you expelled?"

"Soph, you know that's not true. I already told you I don’t care if I get expelled. This isn't about me."

"Actually, Kate, I don't. I don't know what's true anymore because  _ you've shut me out _ . And don't act like this isn't about you. You made it about you the moment you decided I didn't have a voice in this decision," Sophie accused, her cheeks burning in frustration.

"That's because I knew you'd react this way if I included you," Kate offered defensively.

"And I think you've been alone for too long to know that's not how a relationship works, Kate," Sophie cut in, regretting her words the instant she saw Kate's face fall. 

"You're probably right."

"Kate… I'm-I'm sorry," she rushed. "I didn't - I didn't mean it that way. I didn’t mean to... with Beth and your mom… it… it just came out. I didn't mean… I wasn't thinking."

"It's fine," Kate replied with a distant tone, setting the papers from Chelsea on Sophie's bed. "I think you should consider this. I'm going to crash at Melvin's until they get the second bed in Chelsea's room. James is practically living with Jenn now, so there's extra space."

Sophie stared between the papers and Kate who was reaching for one of her bags to leave.

"Kate, you cannot be serious," Sophie said, her eyes pleading. "Is this really your solution? You’re running? What happened to the resilient Kate Kane who would rather give the finger to the system than buckle?"

"I think with time you'll come around to it, too, Soph."

"Are we really not going to talk about this?"

"There's not much left to say. It’s all pretty clear cut from where I’m standing."

"Bullshit, Kate."

"Yea? And what do you propose, Soph? Huh? You want to risk your future on this? Because if I had to guess, you don't. And that's fine; I'm not going to push you into something you aren't ready for, but then don't turn around and make me the bad guy for doing what you're too afraid to do."

"That's not fair," Sophie shot back, suddenly feeling defensive.

"How? Tell me how that's not fair. I know you, Soph. This Academy is everything for you, and I'm not going to let this screw that up."

"Who said anything about screwing it up?" Sophie asked, her frustration and voice increasing.

"Do you want to relive that night again?"

"Depends; which part?" Sophie replied sarcastically.

"Getting caught, except next time you aren’t so lucky. Next time you actually get expelled. Is that something you’re ready to gamble on? Having your parents finding out? Dealing with the fallout of that? Effectively destroying your future plans?”

Sophie fell silent at this. These were the exact same questions that had been spinning around her head for weeks if not months, and she hated that Kate could so easily call them out against her.

"I didn't think so," Kate continued, emboldened by Sophie's silence. She moved toward the door, making to leave.

"I'm not signing this," Sophie said as Kate opened the door.

Kate closed her eyes in frustration. Room swaps were only accepted by the Academy if all parties signed, and Sophie saying no would throw a wrench into the entire plan. It had been the best idea Kate could come up with given the circumstances. She had already tried persuading Chelsea to make the move informal without official approval, but she was almost as much of a stickler for rules as Sophie was.

“I think if you give yourself the night to think it over you’ll realize it makes sense. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”

* * *

Kate cautiously opened the door the next morning, quietly glancing in to check that Sophie wasn’t there. After confirming the room was empty, she slipped in. She had timed her return so that she’d arrive just before Calculus II was set to begin, preferring to be berated by Gilmet for tardiness on the first day than face an angry Sophie. She quickly changed into a fresh outfit and went to grab her backpack when she caught sight of the neatly stacked papers on her desk. She stepped toward them, noting they were the roommate agreement forms, and, on the bottom line next to “Room 419, Roommate B” was Sophie Moore’s signature.

Kate stared at the familiar handwriting, feeling a slight pang of disappointment rush through her. A small part of her had hoped Sophie’s stubbornness would hold out, and they’d stay roommates, but this signature confirmed otherwise. She hesitated briefly before grabbing the papers and slipping them into her bag.

* * *

“So she signed them, eh?” Melvin asked from his desk.

“Yea,” Kate responded simply. Their first day of classes was over, and Kate had just returned from submitting the paperwork to the housing office, all but sealing their fate as roommates.

“Well, on the plus side, you won’t have to room in this mess for much longer,” Melvin joked of his room’s messy state, sensing Kate wasn’t completely on board with her own decision. Kate gave a half-hearted smile at this, also knowing selfishly that the best room was behind door 419.

“I also got the vibe last night that you know I told Sophie about our conversation,” Melvin continued, eyeing Kate’s reaction closely. “I mean… it’s cool if you don’t want to talk about it.”

“Yea, I’d rather not,” Kate said quickly. She was sitting on the ground where a couch existed in her own room, her eyes pressed closed and her head leaned against the wall. She had spent the day convincing herself she was doing the right thing while dodging Sophie’s looks from across various class rooms. 

“Yea, s’cool,” Melvin said, trying to keep his tone casual. “And look, I get it’s not my business; you should do you. But you’re also my friend so I’m gonna be honest with you: it’s a bit bullshit you kept Sophie in the dark all break. You should have seen her yesterday; she was totally on edge.”

“Yea, I know,” Kate replied. “That’s not something you need to tell me twice.”

“So why’d you do it? I mean, you’re a pain in the ass, but you’re not heartless.”

Kate broke into a smile, “Can I get that on my gravestone? ‘Kate Kane: a pain in the ass but not heartless’.”

Melvin broke into laughter, nodding his head in approval.

“I don’t know why I did it,” Kate continued after a moment, sobering the mood. “I think… I think I was afraid.”

“Was?” Melvin pointed out.

Kate looked like she might disagree, but instead gave in. “Fair. Yea, I am afraid. What happened with Miller - Melvin, what if that happens again? Not everyone is chill with it like you; there’s a very serious risk for her - for both of us - if we were to get caught again. And I don’t know how to tell her that so she’ll understand.”

“Kate Kane, you are hopelessly in love.”

* * *

“Rejected?! But how? Why?” Kate gaped up at a grinning Chelsea. She had just tracked her down in the dorm lounge to bring her the news. They had issued the forms only a day earlier, and Kate was banking on a quick response, but not like this. She continued staring up at Chelsea’s smiling face with confusion.

“Apparently Martha over at Wilfred Hall also didn’t have a roommate.”

“But what does that have to do with us?”

“The school doesn’t like it when there are multiple singles, and our submitting this form brought to their attention that I didn’t have a roommate.”

“So what does that mean?”

“It means either I’m off to Wilfred Hall, or I convince Martha to move into Murray.”

“Shit, Chelsea, I’m sorry. Had I known-”

“Are you kidding? I mean, I’m bummed we won’t be roomies, but it’s not a big deal. Besides, I think I can convince Martha to make the move: Wilfred is great for parties, but Murray has bigger rooms. Plus, now you can stay with Sophie and I’ve got another roommate. It’s a win-win!”

“Right,” Kate replied, feeling daunted by the outcome. Chelsea had been the perfect option. Kate had overheard her talking about Samantha transferring at the end of semester. Apparently Chelsea had never not shared a room growing up and felt weird about being all alone. After the situation with Miller at the end of term, Kate tried making use of the information to avoid having to face Sophie as a roommate for another three months. Instead of coming up with an alternate solution, Kate had put all her eggs in that basket, expecting the Academy to have no reason to reject the request. Unfortunately, the exact opposite outcome had happened.

“And don’t worry, I already told Sophie the good news on my way over here.”

“That’s great, Chelsea.”

* * *

“Yea, well, don’t wait up,” Sophie said gruffly, zipping up her jacket before grabbing her bag.

“I thought you didn’t like studying alone in the library,” Kate countered looking up from her desk.

“Who said anything about being alone?”

Kate failed to hide her surprise, “W-what? With who?”

“Why, jealous?” Sophie replied coolly, her eyes narrowing slightly in challenge.

Kate gaped back at a loss for words. “Wh-depe-no.”

“Then it shouldn’t matter who,” Sophie smirked in satisfaction before walking out and shutting the door behind her.

* * *

It was five hours later, and Kate was laying wide awake in her bed in complete darkness. She glanced at the digital clock: 2:14 AM. The library was technically open twenty four hours a day, but no one ever stayed past midnight. There had been no word from Sophie, and Kate was wrestling with whether she should be more worried by the silence or jealous of the mystery study partner. It wasn’t like Sophie to not communicate where she was, but that norm was from back when they actually communicated. Now it was vague hellos and feigned niceties that filled the space between them.

She glanced at the clock again: 2:16 AM glared back. She lifted her phone to her face, double-checking that the times aligned; she sighed in frustration at the glowing screen confirming the time. It also confirmed Sophie had still not messaged her.

It had been over a week since news of the room swap fell through and six days since she had moved back in; an argument between James and Jenn over dirty socks had resulted in her temporary home with Melvin being revoked. It was only after Sophie left that Kate noted their earlier conversation was the most words shared by either party by a factor of ten since the first night back.

She sat up and unlocked her phone, navigating to Sophie’s contact. She opened their messages, noting the last string of texts had all been from Sophie during break. She stared at the keys, trying to land on the words to say as the screen dimmed from inactivity.

Kate clicked her phone off and set it aside. She glanced at the clock once more: 2:19 AM. She had convinced herself to wait another thirty minutes before reaching out to Sophie. That was two hours and nineteen minutes ago. Instead of messaging her as planned, she kept pushing it out another thirty minutes. Her next window was at 2:30 AM, and she was trying to decide whether to push it another thirty or not.

She stared at the digital clock, watching the unmoving minutes; 2:22 AM. It was then that the rhythm of footsteps in the hall caught Kate's attention. She froze, listening intently at the sound coming closer. The sound of a key against the lock signaled it was Sophie. The door creaked slightly as it opened just wide enough for Sophie’s frame to slip through. She quietly closed it, setting the dead bolt with a light click, assuming Kate was fast asleep.

“Where have you been?” Kate finally asked in the dark.

“Kate! Ju-you scared me,” Sophie jumped at the sound of Kate’s voice, “What are you doing up?” she asked, realizing Kate’s voice wasn’t groggy from sleep: she was wide awake.

“It’s two in the morning.”

“Yes, I am aware,” Sophie dismissed. “And I’ll repeat: what are  _ you _ doing up?”

“I should be asking you the same. Where were you?”

“At the library. I tol-”

“Until two in the morning?”

“Ye-”

“And you didn’t think to message me? You could have been on the side of the road dead for all I knew.”

“What?” Sophie responded, perplexed by Kate’s outburst. “You know, if you had it your way you wouldn’t have even known I was gone.”

“What?” Kate shot back.

“Because you’d be rooming with Chelsea?”

“Yea, but that’s not what happened.”

“So you don’t want to be roommates, but you want to keep tabs on me? You don’t get to have it both ways, Kate.”

“I’m not trying to keep tabs on you. I just want to know you’re safe.”

Sophie stared back at Kate’s shadow and shook her head in frustration before letting out a long sigh. “I’ll message next time.”

“Thank you,” Kate said, genuinely grateful for Sophie’s commitment, before laying down on her bed.

Silence passed over them as Kate could hear Sophie changing in the dark. The sound of her creaking bed frame and shuffling blankets filled the air as she got settled. Kate continued staring up at the dark ceiling, her mind reeling from the last few hours. 

“You’re still not sleeping.”

“You don’t know that,” Kate replied. 

Kate could almost hear Sophie smile through the dark. 

“I know that you don’t fall asleep on your back.”

Kate turned her head to see Sophie laying on her side, her eyes glowing in the dark as she stared over at Kate’s side of the room. Instead of pressing how Sophie knew that, Kate rolled onto her side, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Better?”

“Hmm,” was all Sophie replied.

Kate opened her eyes to see Sophie’s were now closed. She watched her for a minute, unable to calm her thoughts.

“Hey Soph?”

“Mhm?” Sophie replied, half-dozing.

“Who wer-”

“Rice.”

“Erwin?”

“Hmm.”

“Erwin Rice?”

Sophie sighed. “He asked me to tutor him. Said you were too much of a hardass on him last semester.”

“Oh.”

Another moment passed between them.

“Hey Soph?”

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry.”

Kate watched Sophie’s eyes open in surprise at the unprompted remark, “For what?”

“For overreacting… earlier.”

“You’ll have to be more specific. Which ‘earlier’ are you referring to?” Sophie replied lightly.

Kate broke into a small smile, “Point taken. I guess… I mean, I was referring to tonight.”

“Well, let me know when it’s for the other time, too. Then we’ll talk,” she replied before rolling onto her other side, leaving Kate staring at her back.


	3. Training in Navigation

“You’re gonna be late if you don’t hurry,” Sophie said, pulling her hair back while observing the unmoving form under Kate’s comforter.

“It’s fine,” a muffled voice came from beneath it. "I don't need to do my hair like some of us."

Sophie glared at the hidden form. “And I don’t need to remind you this is thirty percent of our grade, right?”

“You know who became successful without a degree?”

“Bill-”

“Bill Gates. Exactly.”

“Well, Bill Gates started at Harvard and founded the world’s largest software company.”

“Your point?”

“That was my point. Do you have a garage or cave somewhere with earth-shattering inventions?”

The comforter flipped open to reveal a disgruntled Kate beneath it. “No. I’ve got one better: my cousin. I’ll spend the rest of my days living vicariously through his being CEO of Wayne Enterprise.”

Sophie stared back unconvinced. “You’d be so bored. Now get up. You’ve got five minutes before I leave without you.”

Kate stared back at Sophie's unwavering gaze and knew she meant business - she had left Kate behind many times before, and that was just for regular class. She sighed unhappily and rolled herself out of bed. 

"I still don't approve."

Sophie sighed. Kate noted it carried a mix of annoyance and humor. "Yes. I know Kate. At this point I'm sure the entire floor knows."

"Doubt that."

"You were shouting."

"I think you mean I escalated my voice for emphasis."

"While standing on your bed."

"I've never been a fan of sitting."

"With the door open."

"Builds community. Besides, you know I struggle with doors," she smirked back before ducking a shirt being thrown at her head. "Hey!"

"No more monologuing," Sophie continued, trying to hide the flushed red in her cheeks.

Kate conceded and gathered her uniform to change, reflecting on the previous evening's declarations of her disdain for today's events.

_ "This literally goes against the core principles of a Military Academy. How can they have us compete against each other and then expect us to go on supporting each other?" _

_ "It's a tradition," Sophie offered, shaking her head with a smile at Kate's frustration. _

_ "It's barbaric, is what it is, Soph," Kate countered. _

_ "While I appreciate your noble stance, I can't say I'll be with you on the picket line tomorrow morning." _

_ "This is some Hunger Games corruption, you know?" _

_ "Yea, except no one is killing anyone." _

Sophie heard Kate mumbling from her side of the room and chuckled at how upset Kate was getting over this.

"Most people can finish under the five hour limit anyway," Sophie offered, continuing last night’s conversation. "It's practically designed for the majority of people to get an A. And even then, you have to be an additional two hours out to fail."

"Not the point," Kate countered. "Did you even hear me last night?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Now hurry or we're going to miss the start."

* * *

"In each of your envelopes is a series of GPS coordinates. When the buses drop you off in your respective batches, it will be up to you to reach this unique point before returning to campus. All routes have been calibrated to ensure equality of rigor," Brigadier General Smith said.

"Oh, sure," Kate whispered.

"Would you just," Sophie shot back quietly. "This is important information."

Kate sighed, annoyed at the whole thing. She knew about the course when she applied but had been led to believe it would be abolished at the beginning of their year. Instead, it remained, and worse yet, unlike in years past, it was directly tied to their Drill 102 course grades; a prerequisite to graduating for all Academy students.

The task? Groups would be dropped in preselected locations outside of campus with nothing more than a low-batteried GPS system, a compass, and a partial map. Each student was supplied a set of coordinates they had to reach before their GPS tracker ran out of battery. Once logged, they were then tasked with finding their way back to campus using nothing more than the map and the compass. It was every man or woman for him or herself, and it wasn't unheard of to sabotage a fellow classmate as a way to get a leg up on them. Cue Kate's late night monologue. To her, the concept broke with the core values that fueled the school: for a Military Academy to encourage individualism went against the concept of teamwork. Originally it had been designed to provide bragging rights to the winner; the revision to associate it with grades was a way to reduce the cutthroat competitiveness of it after sequential years of injury.

It had been a long-held tradition to put first years through the course, and this incoming class was no exception to that. Before GPS, each student was blindfolded, personally escorted to any one of twenty locations, and left to navigate their way home. This slight technological advancement didn’t make the course any easier though.

The woods just outside of campus were filled with elevation changes and differing terrain. It would be easy to assume the fastest way through the woods back to campus was as the crow flies, but the truth was that these meandering hazards meant half the challenge was finding a suitable path.

Being uncreative as the course supervisors were meant the groups were divided by surnames which left Sophie and Kate on the same bus with group two toward some unknown location. The windows were blacked out, and they were not allowed to open their envelopes until at the location. Kate spent the entire ride grumpily slouched on the bus seat next to Sophie who looked about as anxious as if she were about to take a Calc II final exam. 

"Oh relax, will you?" Kate finally said, trying to cheer Sophie up. "You were just telling me the average finish time is three and a half hours. That's ninety minutes under the 'A' threshold.  _ And _ , you're more in shape than 99% of our class. Plus you've got the stamina of a waterless camel in the desert. You'll be fine."

"Mhm," Sophie replied, barely listening and looking like she might be sick.

After nearly an hour the bus finally lurched to a stop, and Brigadier General Savoy rose from her seat announcing their arrival. Everyone filed out, awaiting their final instructions before fleeing in separate directions. After a brief warning that sabotage was strictly forbidden, Savoy declared the start, and the group frantically tore open their individual envelopes.

“Where you headed?” Sophie asked Kate as she started up her GPS unit.

“Here,” Kate offered, not bothering to read off the infinite line of text.

Sophie glanced at it: 43.377314, -75.496875

“Looks like we’re going opposite directions,” Sophie replied. “You’re south of here, I’m north,” she continued, showing Kate her coordinates.

“Yea, well, we’ll both end up traveling west eventually,” Kate replied. “Care to meet up?”

“And tie for first with you? Didn’t you hear? This is the hunger games, Kate,” Sophie joked. "Can't have allies in such a cutthroat environment."

Kate raised her hands in mock surrender. “Game on, Moore. May the best woman win,” Kate replied.

“Or man,” came a voice from behind them.

Kate turned to see Mike and smiled at the challenge. “I didn’t realize you were rooting for Melvin to win. Or did you mean James?" Kate winked.

Mike, unable to match Kate’s wit, simply scoffed. “We’ll see who finishes first, Kane.”

Kate laughed at Mike’s attempt to appear villainous. “Just be careful Miller. I don’t want to hear you’ve gotten lost in the woods again,” she joked, calling back to their first term. Kate had coordinated training sessions with a group of students struggling with drills, and it had included Miller who came into the Academy more out of shape than anyone else. Unfortunately, he was also one of the more aloof classmates, and one evening of training Miller distractedly wandered away from the squad and after failing to reappear over the next hour, forced Kate to convert the training into a search party. They found him nearly an hour later huddled against a boulder, shivering in cold and fear.

“That was one time,” he muttered, shaking his head as he walked away. "And I didn't have a map. Or a compass."

Sophie had finally loaded her coordinates into the unit and looked up at the two in amused annoyance. “I guess I’ll see you when I watch you cross the finish line, Kate,” she joked, noting that Kate was now just turning her unit on.

“You wish,” Kate said, distracted by the screen. “I figured you’d need the head start on me.”

* * *

Sophie circled the area, making sure to capture the immediate radius around her required coordinate location for good measure. The last thing she wanted was to show up back at campus having not recorded the location on her tracker. The fear of receiving an immediate failure for missing that crucial step had her lingering a few minutes longer than she needed. 

Sure that it was recorded, she turned the unit off. There was still the smallest amount of battery left, and she figured it would become useful if she felt like she was wandering off course. She pulled out her map and began studying it more closely. A quick glance at her watch signaled thirty minutes had passed, and, by her calculation, she could make it back to campus in just under three hours. She was familiar with a portion of the woods just north west of her location. Her and Kate had discovered a decently clear trail last semester to run, and she figured if she could just navigate to that point, she’d be able to easily find her way back to campus without fail.

It was after another thirty minutes of walking that Sophie was finally able to relax slightly. She had been tense coming into the morning knowing that doing poorly could jeopardize her entire scholarship. She’d tried reasoning with herself coming into the day that she would need to severely underperform to not get an A, but any risk always made her anxious. The scenery started to transition into a more familiar landscape; the sound of water from a small brook to the north helped orient Sophie as she began recognizing scenes from her weekend runs. The sun was glowing against the chilly air, and Sophie paused for a moment to take in the scene. It was still winter, and there was no sign of green, but Sophie felt warm and comfortable.

Just as she was about to continue, a small whimper echoed through the hollow air. Sophie turned around, trying to identify where it had come from.

“Hello?” Sophie called. She paused, waiting to hear a reply. A cry from her left caught her attention, and without thinking, she changed course in that direction. She continued calling out until a voice could be made out. It took only a minute for her to reach it.

“Sophie? Is that you?” Martha cried in surprise and relief. She was leaning against a tree in obvious pain.

“Martha? Wh-what happened?” Sophie asked, surveying Martha. She noted Martha had her right leg lifted to avoid putting any weight in it.

“I’m such an idiot,” Martha hissed. “I thought it’d be quicker to scale the boulders than walk around,” she hobbled. Sophie reached out for her, providing added support. “Turns out, it  _ was _ quicker but only because I fell down them.”

“It's your ankle, yea? Can you put any weight on it?” Sophie asked, worried that Martha had done some serious damage.

“Believe me, I’ve tried. At this rate, I’ll get back to campus by next Tuesday,” she grimaced, trying to smile at her situation.

“Come on, I’ll help you,” Sophie offered.

* * *

Kate was whistling casually as she reached the edge of the brook. She’d spent enough time in the woods that she had barely opened her map. Once she’d hit the required coordinates, she took her time to make her way back to campus. With everyone else flurrying around like chickens with their heads cut off, Kate found the slower pace to be more conducive to her mood. She wasn’t interested in competing for the best time, and by letting everyone else rush ahead, she had the woods all to herself.

She hadn’t checked the time, but instead glanced at the sky, noting the sun's and guessing she could keep at her current pace and make it back by the five hour mark. Part of her wanted to roll in around hour six out of protest but she knew better. Over the winter break she had spent time with her dad who was in the middle of finalizing plans to start a new company in private security. With all of his military background it was the perfect transition for his. He was getting older and the politics of the higher military ranks wasn't of interest to him. Instead, he was interested in spending more time at home in Gotham. His wife, Catherine, had been a vocal proponent of the company which had Kate wary, but after a few weeks together, she saw the potential of it. When she'd asked if he'd ever hire someone like her out of school, he seemed initially hesitant but warmed up to the idea by the end of break.

_ "On the condition you don't monkey around. I expect a certain caliber of soldier working for me, and if I don't see that in your schooling, I'll have no problem saying no." _

For Kate, this was an ultimatum: do well at school or no job offer. Kate had always been reticent to join the Army-Army. After high school Point Rock was a natural choice: her parents were both from the military, and without any other serious interests it was an easy decision, but that didn't mean it's what she wanted. She had seen the path it sent her dad down and wasn't sure the life of constant travel and no permanence was what she wanted. So when the prospect of returning to Gotham after school came up, she jumped at the opportunity. 

A grumble from her stomach tore her from her thoughts, noting that, aside from winning her dad's approval, she was also hungry. She could almost hear the taunting voice of Sophie telling her off for not waking up earlier to eat breakfast. She smiled at the imaginary conversation as it played out in her mind, deciding to up her pace. The sooner she got back the sooner she could get something warm in her belly.

The thought of Sophie also put her in higher spirits. The last two weeks had been a blissful return to normal. Well,  _ almost _ normal. After another week of stubbornness, Kate finally broke down and apologized to Sophie for going behind her back. She wasn’t used to talking through problems and had grown up being reactionary. After years alone, it didn’t occur to her to consider other people when facing a problem, and she promised to be better in the future. 

Apparently this was exactly what Sophie needed to hear. Much to Kate’s relief they hadn’t discussed in any detail the events of that night at the end of term, but she could tell Sophie wanted to. It was only a matter of time before they’d have to address it, but for now they were both happy to play ignorant to the lingering feelings between them.

It was when she navigated over the brook that air staggered rustling of leaves caught her attention. Her curiosity piqued, she glanced at her watch for the first time, noting she had time for a small diversion before setting off toward the noise. She could make out two figures in the distance. Smirking, she quickly scaled down a boulder to get closer.

“Well, well, what do we have he-,” she began before cutting herself off. “Soph? Wha- Martha?”

Sophie and Martha both looked up, catching sight of Kate’s approach.

“What happened?” she asked. It was clear one was supporting the other, and Kate quickly surveyed Sophie for injury. Seeing none, she realized Sophie was doing the supporting, and that’s when Kate noticed Martha’s elevated foot.

“Martha fell,” Sophie said simply, winded under Martha’s weight.

“It was so dumb,” Marth said, trying to explain the injury.

“Well this is certainly a twist.”

"If you're about to make a joke-"

"A _twisted_ ankle," Kate said, cutting Sophie off.

* * *

“Hey guys, I’m sorry, but I need a break,” Martha blurted out. They had been hobbling along for the last ninety minutes, and Martha was beginning to need more and more frequent breaks. It was obvious she was feeling the strain.

“Not a problem,” Kate replied, recognizing that Martha was clearly over-exerting herself to keep a decent pace going. Kate and Sophie guided Martha over to a tree stump and helped lower her onto it. “You just let us know when you’re good, ok?” Kate continued, keeping her tone light so as to not make Martha feel bad.

“I’m really sorry for all of this,” Martha said, looking up with an apologetic smile. 

“Don’t you worry about it, ok? We’ll get back when we get back,” Kate continued with a smile. “I didn't have any plans for the rest of the week anyway.” Martha laughed softly at this as Kate glanced over at Sophie who had wandered a few feet away, her face riddled with concern as she glanced at her watch.

Kate made sure Martha’s foot was elevated before walking over to Sophie who was almost transfixed, glancing west toward campus.

“You should go on ahead,” Kate offered, glancing back at Martha resting against the tree and out of ear shot. “I’ll take it from here.”

“No, I’m not leaving you guys,” Sophie replied stubbornly.

“Look, we’re making the same progress with or without a second person helping Martha,” Kate reasoned. “If you hurry you’ll make the five hour mark.”

“Kate, enough,” Sophie countered, her tone suggesting it wasn’t up for discussion. She swallowed heavily, recognizing that by staying she’d be all but guaranteeing a B at best in the course.

“Soph, don’t be a hero. You’ve been checking your watch every five minutes for the last hour,” Kate reasoned. Her gaze stayed fixed on Sophie as she weighed her options.

“This is wrong,” Sophie said simply, glancing over at Martha. “I can’t just leave you two stranded. This is ridiculous. What school does this? It’s completely two-faced.”

“ _ Yea, except no one is killing anyone _ ,” Kate joked, throwing Sophie’s words from the night before back at her. Sophie glared back. “It’s fine. At this rate we’ll still make it back before dark. If we’re lucky, it’ll even be before the seventh hour.”

Sophie didn’t immediately respond, but Kate could tell it was because she was cooking up some thread of counterargument.

“Soph, stop. Please don’t argue with me about this,” Kate said. “You’ve got two hours. Can we bypass your stubbornness this once so you have a fighting chance to get back in time?”

Sophie looked ready to argue when Kate cut in again. “Do it for me?”

This simple request stopped Sophie in her tracks. She stared at Kate, her eyes pleading Sophie to agree. A moment passed between them, silent exchanges being communicated before Sophie closed her eyes in frustration and defeat.

“Fine.”

“Thank you.”

“Yea, well, thank me when you get back to the dorm  _ before _ dark,” Sophie said. She glanced over at Martha whose eyes were closed, possibly asleep but Sophie couldn't be certain.

“I’ll tell her,” Kate said, reading Sophie’s concern.

Sophie nodded at this. For a moment she looked like she might still object and stay. “Just be careful, ok?”

Kate smirked back at Sophie. “Aren’t I always?”

“No,” Sophie replied matter of factly. “No you aren’t.”

Kate laughed at Sophie’s seriousness. “Just make sure there’s a pizza with my name on it when I get back.”

“Extra olives?”

“Don’t be sadistic.”

* * *

“There, that should help,” Kate said, cinching the final knot at the top of Martha’s shin. Kate doubted the makeshift splint would hold, but if it meant improving their time by even a fraction, it was worth it. The swelling had increased over the last hour, and Kate was worried Martha might have done more than sprain it in the fall.

“Thanks, Kate,” Martha said gratefully. “And I’m sorry again,” she offered.

“Martha, what did I say? If you apologize anymore I’m going to leave you here,” Kate joked, trying to make light of the situation. She could tell Martha’s guilt had grown over the last few hours. At one point her watch had beeped, announcing the five hour time limit had been reached, and they were still nowhere near campus. After a small breakdown, Kate managed to convince her that it didn’t matter how long it took them to get back as long as she stopped apologizing, and they arrived in one piece.

For as long as they had spent together alone in the woods, few words had been shared between them outside of Kate trying to provide encouragement and Martha offering up a new wave of apologies. Mostly time was passed in silence, both winded and focused on navigating the terrain for fear of slipping and adding another injury to their trip.

The sun was now setting, and Kate could just make out the hazy glow of campus on the horizon. It was cooling off, and their slower pace was making it harder to pretend they weren’t cold. Kate glanced at her own watch, noting that they had already missed the seven hour deadline by over an hour, meaning there was no real rush to get back, unless they factored in their hunger, general discomfort, and growing dread that they be stuck out in the woods all night.

* * *

It took nearly two more hours to get back to campus. At one point Martha was all but ready to give up and Kate had to pull a Jacob Kane and monologue about the importance of perseverance in the face of certain failure. The ease with which Kate could step into her dad's mindset surprised her. She had always looked up to his ability to see past the drama of a situation. She felt he would have been proud of how she rallied Martha's morale. Assuming of course he didn't use her failing the course as ammunition against offering her a job.

"Well that might be a new record," came the call of Savoy in the dark.

"I'm all about setting records, ma'am," Kate replied sarcastically. 

"I wouldn't brag about this one if I were you. Fortunately for you Cadet Moore gave us heads up earlier which is why I've wasted my evening in wait," Savoy continued, unmoved by Kate's tone. "As neither of you seem in imminent danger of blood loss or death, I'll leave it to you to see the task through. You've done a fine enough job getting this far, Cadet Kane. Why don't you finish assisting Cadet Potts to the medical center?"

Kate held back a groan of frustration. She was cold and exhausted from schlepping Martha through the terrain all night and wanted nothing more than a warm shower and a good night's rest.

"It's ok ma'am, I can manage from here," Martha tried to interject.

"Don't be ridiculous Martha," Kate said, going against her own desires. "I'd be happy to."

"Glad to see you're up for the challenge. And as you've been such a supportive comrade to Cadet Potts, we've decided to make an exception for you," Savoy continued.

"You mean I passed?" Kate asked, surprised by Savoy's comment.

Savoy in turn let out a soft but mocking chuckle. "Oh, no. We're giving you the chance to run the course again tomorrow. You'll meet me here at 6:00 sharp and I will personally escort you to your new start point. Cadet Potts, pending your medical evaluation, an alternate date will be set up for you to duplicate the task. It would be in your best interest to avoid a repeat of today's events."

Kate was about to argue but knew it would fall on dead ears. Savoy's mind was made up, and challenging it only meant increasing her risk of the offer being retracted.

* * *

"I'm sorry again," Martha said between steps. "I know you said I shouldn't apologize, but it's right mad what they're doing. You shouldn't have to run the course again."

"It's fine, Martha. Let's just get you to the doctor so they can have a look at that ankle," Kate replied. She was annoyed at Savoy's comments, but knew better that to share it with Martha who already felt terrible enough. They weren't far from the medical center now, and Kate was counting the minutes until she'd be free to head back to room 419.

"I meant to say this earlier, but it was sweet of you to let Sophie go back there. I hope she made it back in time. You two are like, the perfect couple," Martha said between hobbles.

Kate stopped, thrust from her own thoughts and only half catching Martha's words. The sudden pause nearly caused Martha to lose her balance. 

"What did you just say?"

"Huh? You mean about you and Sophie? You guys make a great couple," Martha repeated. She glanced at Kate's paled face and quickly added, "Oh, don't worry, I won't tell."

"But Sophie and I… we aren't-"

"It's  _ ok _ . A bunch of us know."

"A bunch of… what?"

"Oh yea," Martha continued. "We all found out a while ago."

"Martha, Sophie and I aren't together."

"Oh, well, that's not what Mike said."

Kate felt her stomach drop. "Mike? Mike Miller?"

"Yea," Martha said, slightly confused.

"Mike Miller told you Sophie and I were together?"

"Well, yea. He said he found you two getting cozy in your dorm."

"When?"

"I think last term? Your door was open an-"

"What? No, I mean, when did he tell you that?"

"Oh I don't remember. It was just after I moved in with Chelsea so… maybe two weeks ago?"

"How?" 

"Well, Mike was pretty wasted, and you know how much a mouth he has when he drinks. Can't hold his liquor either. Boy, let me tell you about one night last fall," Martha continued, but Kate had already stopped listening. Instead, Kate felt her heart rate increase in paranoia. If Martha was speaking truthfully, that meant any number of people on campus were running around with the same idea of Sophie and Kate, and worse, they might be telling the wrong people. The rumor mill would certainly lead the some bad news.

“I think this is the building?” Martha said, pulling Kate from her thoughts. She glanced at the building, noting only a few windows were lit. A sign out front confirmed Martha was right. “I’ve never been here before. You think they have an x-ray machine?”

“No idea,” Kate replied, her mind distracted by Martha’s earlier comments. She just needed to get Martha inside then she could deal with this new information.

* * *

Sophie glanced at the clock again, noting the time. Dark had fallen hours earlier, and Sophie was starting to worry that Kate and Martha would be stranded in the woods overnight. She imagined the cold creeping up on them in their ill-equipped state. Sophie had cursed herself for not leaving something behind for them, but she wasn’t sure exactly what she could have done to help. Another part of her was frustrated she had left them at all. 

She had only just made it back under the five hour mark, barely qualifying for an A, but that small victory paled when compared to the fact she’d left two of her classmates to fend for themselves.

Restless and worried, she slammed her textbook shut. She’d hoped that studying would keep her distracted, but it had been fruitless. After rereading the same paragraph five times in a row and retaining nothing from it, Sophie realized she would be better off pacing a hole into the floor. She leaned back in her chair, considering taking a trip down to the floor lounge, but she wanted to be in the room when Kate returned, if only to know she was ok.

It was then that the fall of keys outside the door caused Sophie to perk up. She stood in anticipation, watching the door open and seeing a furious and exhausted Kate on the other side. 

“How - how was it? Is Martha ok? Are you ok?” Sophie asked quickly. She watched Kate carefully shut the door behind her in silence. “Is- is everything ok?”

“You’re going on a date with Melvin.”

“What?” Sophie asked, not understanding. “I am not going on a date with Melvin.”

“Yes you are. This Saturday, actually."

"Is this a question?"

"No. From this point forward you’re  _ dating _ Melvin.”

“What the hell are you talking about,” Sophie asked, blindsided by Kate’s sudden suggestion. What did this have to do with Kate returning so late from the course? “No I’m not.”

“Yes you are.”

“And why am I doing that, Kate?” Sophie replied, her tone growing frustrated.

“Because Mike Miller remembered. And worse than that, he’s told people.”


	4. Dating 101

“Are you studying?” Sophie asked, stunned to see Kate hunched over her desk upon her return to the dorm room.

“Is that a problem?” Kate asked, not looking up from her desk.

“It’s Friday,” Sophie continued.

“And?”

"It's Friday night."

" _ And _ ?"

“Are you ok?”

Kate looked up ready to spar back with a sarcastic remark when her eyes caught sight of Sophie for the first time and she found herself lost for words. Sophie was standing just inside the doorway having changed out of her uniform and was instead wearing a dress Kate had never seen before. It was a simple but elegantly fitted slate grey dress; the full skirt tapered out from her waist and fell to Sophie’s mid-calf. The neckline was sharply cut back to expose her collarbone and wrapped just over her shoulders while the short sleeves settled snugly on her shoulders. It was just revealing enough to make Kate lose her breath.

“Uh...”

“I just mean… it’s almost eight on a Friday night,” Sophie continued, not recognizing that Kate’s lack of response was directly correlated to her change in attire. "And you're still here."

“I know,” Kate finally stammered out, torn between continuing to gawk and averting her gaze.

“What are you even working on?” Sophie asked, walking over to Kate. She immediately recognized the physics textbook propped up in the corner of the desk and realized Kate was playing catch-up from having to run the course again. “Oh, right...” she said apologetically, realizing the reason for Kate’s Friday night house arrest was to finish physics homework due online by nine the following morning. Kate had missed Thursday's lecture because she was rerunning the Drill course and had stubbornly rejected Sophie's offer to catch her up on the lesson after ending the evening before in an argument.

_ “I can’t believe you are suggesting this,” Sophie said, raising her voice again. “And that you consulted Melvin,  _ again _ I might add, before talking to me about it.” _

_ “It was late and I knew if I waited he’d be asleep.” _

_ “Oh, that’s right. Because we’re all out of tomorrows,” Sophie shot back. “You didn’t think maybe it could wait until after you talked to me about it?” _

_ “Do you have a better idea?” _

_ Sophie stared back at Kate, as she racked her brain for an alternative. Nothing else came to mind. “No, but that’s not what I’m saying.” _

_ “So, I don’t understand: are you upset about the idea or that I didn’t come to you for your obvious approval first?” _

_ “You really still don’t get it, do you?” _

_ “Apparently not. Because it sounds to me like you’re on board with the idea.” _

_ “That’s not the point. Your ideas aren’t always right, Kate.” _

_ “But it is this time, so what’s the problem?” _

_ “That - just… it’s. I can’t do this with you right now.” _

Sophie placed her hand on the back of Kate’s chair, leaning in to see what problem she was on. Kate, in turn, went rigid. Her stubbornness from the days before was prevailing, but that didn’t stop her from feeling the effects that Sophie in the dress was having on her. She dared not glance up and left her hands placed squarely on the desk for fear they might do something inappropriate if not carefully watched. She sensed the space between them shrink as Sophie leaned in. Kate didn’t know if she was imagining it or not, but she was certain Sophie’s warmth was radiated from her as she scrutinized the papers on Kate's desk. After a moment of eternity, Kate realized she’d been holding her breath and, upon inhaling, absorbed the soft scent of Sophie’s perfume. It was a subtle lilac scent. Having grown up in the city, Kate had never been exposed to many flowers, but the first time she experienced Sophie's perfume, she knew it was her favorite.

“It’s, it’s ok - I think I’ve got it, Soph," Kate offered weakly as a loose tendril of Sophie's hair fell and grazed Kate's cheek.

“Ah, you haven’t converted the units from the first step. That’s why this number is so high,” Sophie said, pointing to the top of the page. “I made the same mistake,” she offered, sliding her hand onto Kate’s shoulder in consolation before stepping back to her side of the room.

Kate felt her cheeks burning and remained staring at her work, already forgetting Sophie's remark. 

“Uh, so, you’re all… fancy tonight. Got plans?” Kate asked, trying to seem casual.

Sophie smirked back but didn’t respond leaving Kate both more confused and worried.

“S-so… is that a yes?”

“Oh, wait, you’re serious?” Sophie replied quizzically, finally taking Kate’s look as genuine. “Tonight's my 'date' with Melvin," she said, lifting her hands into air quotes around the word. “He had to move it up because he's going home for a funeral tomorrow. I thought I told you?”

“Ah, no. I mean ‘yes’ - right. That. That is tonight,” she stammered, mentally cursing her momentary ineptitude.

Sophie eyed her curiously but stayed silent. She turned to her mirror, checking her make-up one last time before reaching for her jacket. 

“See you later?” Sophie asked as she slipped it on. Kate noncommittally shrugged in reply, suddenly feeling aimless. She wasn’t much in the mood to go out, but wasn’t ready to commit to a night in either - especially if it meant Sophie wouldn’t be around.

“Have fuun,” Kate managed, drawing it out to make it seem like a joke while secretly wishing Sophie would stay back with her.

Sophie smiled back, shaking her head at Kate’s remark. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll even get lucky,” she winked, reaching for the door and missing Kate’s jaw drop to the floor.

* * *

“Ready?” Melvin asked. He had been loitering in the lobby when Sophie finally made her way out. 

Sophie paused, smiling at his attempt to look dressed up.

“A bow tie?”

“It’s not mine,” he quickly excused, reaching up self consciously to adjust it, causing it to fall crookedly out of place.

Sophie laughed as she walked up to him. “You’re telling me,” she started, bringing her hands up to readjust it, “that this dashing red and white polka dot accessory is not part of your everyday wardrobe?”

“Depends - you think it’s sexy?”

Sophie laughed, “Not in the least.”

* * *

“How can you have no idea?” Sophie continued to press, her fork suspended mid-air and her eyes wide in disbelief. 

“Just hasn’t come up yet.”

“You’re telling me no one has ever asked ‘hey Mevlin, what do you want to be when you grow up?’”

“Do people actually answer that honestly?” Melvin replied. Sophie glanced up, realizing he was serious.

“Did you not?” she asked, her mind racing with confusion. They were in the middle of entrees, and the discussion of their future plans had come up. Well, Sophie explicitly asked, and what was supposed to be a passing query was now an extensive psycho analysis into Melvin’s life choices.

Three years earlier, Point Rock had rid themselves of the required five-years of active duty for all graduates. This was primarily done to increase enrollment which had been diminishing over the years, and in turn, it opened the floodgates to a new class of students who were interested in the training a Military Academy provided with the option to take it into civilian life. Anymore the number of privatized security services were offering more lucrative opportunities than the Military could, and students were now grappling with decisions that previous classes had never been privileged with.

“I guess I just assumed I’d go the traditional route,” Melvin responded finally.

“Why do I feel like this isn’t actually what you want?”

Melvin had become conspicuously quiet during the conversation; his lighthearted mood fading as he turned his attention to his food, taking painstaking care at curating his next forkful. He brought it to his mouth and chewed it slowly, thoughtfully. 

“My dad’s a bit of a hardass,” he said. “He was raised by generations of fathers and grandfathers who served. It’s sort of his master plan for me.”

“Did he, too?” Sophie asked.

“That was the plan, but then he got my mom pregnant in high school, and he dropped out to start working and support her.”

“Why didn't he enlist later?”

“Because he never got his high school diploma,” Melvin continued, beginning to relax into the conversation with the facts. “You can’t join the military without one, and whenever he thought to go back for his GED, my mom wound up pregnant again.”

“Again? How many Bennett children are roaming around?”

“Seven,” Melvin grinned. “Six girls. I’m the youngest.”

“ _ Six sisters _ ? How did you survive?” Sophie gaped. She had always wanted a sibling or two growing up as playmates, but she couldn’t imagine seven other little Moores running around the tight quarters of her parents’ two-bedroom home.

Melvin laughed at this, recognizing the absurdity of the situation. “It was actually pretty great. Over the years my dad became more and more worried he’d never have a son, so with each new daughter he’d enroll them in more and more physical activities. When I finally came around, there was a whole generation of Bennett girls ready to rough house.”

“But you said your dad was a bit of a hardass; how so? He doesn’t sound so bad,” Sophie mused, thinking about how her own dad had pushed her as a kid to be her best. She imagined that was the stance Melvin’s dad had on his kids.

“Oh, he isn’t if you’re his daughter,” Melvin countered quickly before catching himself. It was clear these weren’t ideas he was used to vocalizing.

“How do you mean?” Sophie asked casually but already sensing where it was going.

Melvin stared off in thought. He seemed to be weighing his words, and Sophie imagined he was articulating his childhood for the first time. “Let’s just say he wasn’t going to mess up his one chance of turning his son into the version of himself he could never be.”

Sophie was struck by this, but it suddenly clarified why Melvin didn’t have an answer for her earlier question. If she let her imagination run with his words, that meant Melvin’s life was predetermined for him; even if he had an opinion about his future, it was already set the day he was born.

“Enough about me, though. This is getting too serious for a first date,” Melvin pivoted, noting Sophie’s serious expression. “What did Sophie Moore want to be growing up?”

Sophie took Melvin’s discomfort as cue to move on. “Easy: professional soccer player,” she said quickly, as though rehearsed through the years. Then, more shyly, she followed with, “or a secret agent.”

“What, like James Bond?” Melvin asked lightly.

“Oh, no. Well, sure. It was actually - ” Sophie asked, suddenly looking uncomfortable. “It wasn’t ever serious.”

“It was actually what?” Melvin pressed, a smile returning to his face, taking a hint of joy at Sophie squirming in her seat.

Sophie looked like she was having an internal battle of wills before continuing. “Ok, you have to promise not to tell anyone else this.”

Melvin broke into a laugh. “Are you serious?”

Sophie stared back in discomfort.

“Oh, you’re serious. Yes, ok. I promise,” he said, trying to hide his smirk into a neutral expression.

“I always imagined being like Sydney Bristow.”

“Who?”

“From… from  _ Alias _ .”

Melvin couldn’t help but break into a huge smile as he watched Sophie share the intimate details of her childhood dreams.

“Well who says you can’t still be?” he asked genuinely and watched Sophie’s concern for ridicule wash away. “Besides, you’ve got all the qualifications: smart, self-sufficient, strong, sexy. The 4 S’s every successful secret agent needs.”

* * *

“I must say, this has been unexpectedly nice," Sophie remarked as the waiter cleared their dessert plates. 

Melvin chuckled. "Quite the endorsement, Sophie. Can I put you down as a reference for all future girlfriends?"

Sophie flinched slightly. "I - I didn't mean it that way, it's just-"

"It's fine," Melvin cut in, waving off Sophie's explanation. "I think we both know you’d rather be somewhere else with a certain someone else tonight anyway," he continued, slipping on his trademark mischievous grin. They had spent the entire evening enjoying each other's company without once mentioning the elephant in the room. Now that dessert had wrapped and normal conversation was drying up, it was the inevitable fallback.

"After your fine manners, I can't imagine having spent it with anyone but you," Sophie replied, unwilling to fold into the conversation so easily. She had enjoyed her evening with Melvin and was happy keeping the conversation light and fluid.

Melvin gave a sideways smirk at her, taking the hint. "How about we grab the check. Maybe I'll take you back to my place. You might have heard of it: it's this quaint little eight-story just north of here."

"It rings a bell," Sophie joked in response. "I hear it has over fifty bedrooms?"

"Eighty, actually," Melvin continued. "It could use a few more bathrooms, but it’s a fine place. And it sounds like you're familiar enough."

"Well it just so happens I live around there."

"Ah, so your walk of shame will be that much shorter."

Sophie broke out in laughter at this. “It’s a wonder you’re still single.”

* * *

“Well, this is me,” Melvin joked as the two approached the residence hall. He had placed his hand around Sophie’s waist for good measure when they got close, noting that a number of their peers were out and about, likely making their way to or from their own Friday night plans. It had initially caught Sophie off guard, but his playfulness quickly devolved any hesitancy. “Care to come up to see my etchings?”

“Are you from the 1940’s?” Sophie smiled back. She wondered if Melvin was actually this forward with girls or if he was making an exception to keep their arranged date light.

“You caught me. It’s a gift and a curse: I was actually born in the 13th Century and haven’t aged a day since.”

“You were born as a nineteen year old man?”

“What? No. I mean I stopped aging at this nineteen,” Melvin backtracked, realizing his error. “I’ll fix that detail for next time,” he continued, grabbing the front door and swinging it open in a gentlemanly fashion for Sophie to enter.

The warm air from the vestibule was a welcome blanket after the brisk evening temperature. The restaurant they’d gone to was a local favorite among students, but it was a decent walk across campus to get to. When left to plot their own fake date, Sophie and Melvin both agreed it was an obvious choice to get the best exposure for their date, and it didn’t fail to disappoint. No less than a dozen of their classmates had seen them together; a few were less than subtle about their gawks.

They lingered in front of the elevators, waiting for a lift for a moment.

“Thanks for doing this. I know this isn’t exactly how you might spend a Friday night, but it means a lot. This was a lot of fun,” Sophie remarked, trying to hide her surprise with a more genuine tone.

“Yea, it was. I mean, it’s always fun with you, but it’s always only ever been in a group or with Kate. It’s nice to get to know Sophie Moore on her own,” Melvin grinned back. “And I’d take this over a night at Wilfred Hall any Friday.”

“I still can’t believe I never knew you had six  _ older _ sisters. The only boy; amazing,” Sophie remarked, reflecting on the night’s conversations as she stepped into the elevator.

“Hey, I’ll have you know, my expertise in make-up application has gotten me a second date on more than one occasion,” Melvin remarked following behind her.

They rode the elevator in a natural silence. After hours of talking the quiet between them felt nice. As the elevator door opened, they continued their silence in gestures encouraging the other to leave first. After a moment they broke into laughter as the elevator nearly closed in on them. Finally Sophie brought her arm between the sliding doors, causing them to reopen as she exited. 

They lingered in the lobby, both unsure how to end the evening. 

“We should do this again,” Melvin said, continuing his corny rhetoric.

“Well, I don’t think we have much of a choice. Didn’t you hear? We’re in a very committed relationship,” Sophie joked back. “But, choice or not, I’d like that. Maybe you can show me that smokey eye you keep bragging about.”

“You joke, but once I’m done with you, you’ll be begging me for it again and again,” Melvin countered.

“That’s what she said.”

“I didn’t know Kate was here,” Melvin murmured back, his eye glimmering as he watched Sophie blush in embarrassment.

“And you were doing so well,” she muttered lowly.

“Hey, you started it. And also, I’m going to kiss you now,” Melvin said softly, a grin still playing across his lips with his eyes fixed on hers.

“What?” Sophie asked, taken aback by his words.

“There are half a dozen people in the lounge watching us,” he continued. “Might as well take advantage,” he said, leaning in before Sophie could object.

His lips were softer than Sophie expected. There was a gentleness about how he pressed them against hers. It lasted only a moment before he pulled away, but the feeling lingered. Her surprise broke into a soft smile. It was a tenderness she didn’t expect from Melvin.

“Uh that was-”

“The best kiss you’ve ever had?” Melvin said. “I know. I have that effect.”

Sophie laughed softly, shaking her head at Melvin’s inability to be serious for more than ten seconds at a time.

“Well, if we linger much longer I’m going to have to proposition you back to my place, and James isn’t going to like that.”

“Hint taken,” Sophie shot back. “Thank you for a lovely evening, Melvin.”

“And you, Sophie Moore,” Melvin said with a small bow before leaning in and gracing her cheek with another soft peck. 

* * *

Sophie quietly slid her key into the lock, wary of the hour and assuming Kate had pursued one of two trajectories for the rest of her night: she had either finished her work and left for Wilfred Hall or was asleep from the last three days of exertion. If it was the latter, Sophie wanted to be the last reason for waking her up. She knew Kate didn't blame her for what happened, but Sophie still carried a guilt for leaving her behind with Martha for something as trivial as a grade.

After bringing Martha back, Kate was expected to return for the exact same drill the following morning. Not only did it start two hours earlier than the day before, by the time Kate returned to the dorm room it was well past midnight. Granted, her belated return was because of a side trip to Melvin's where she hatched a plan that him and Sophie would be dating for "the foreseeable future."

Sophie had initially been miffed about once again about being left in the dark, but the swiftness with which Kate compiled and executed the plan left her less anxious as Kate broke the news to her. Sophie wondered how much Kate realized having a strategy in place would temper Sophie's reaction and how much it was just Kate being Kate. Although she wished Kate would be more upfront with Sophie during the planning stages, she appreciated her dedication to finding a solution.

A soft click of the latch gave way and she slowly slipped the door open and closed it behind her with another controlled click. She turned around, taking in the room for the first time, and she realized Kate's bedside lamp was dimly illuminating the space. Next to it was Kate, slumped half upright against the wall on her bed, a book resting on her chest.

Sophie smiled at the scene. Kate did not read for fun, but collapsed on her chest with one hand tucked softly around it was Sophie's copy of  _ Little Women _ . She recalled the first time they had talked about the book: Sophie was reading it for the millionth time and her war torn cover had fallen off onto the ground. Kate collected it before Sophie could react, handing it back to her with some forgettable sarcastic comment. It resulted in some mild bickering that evolved into their first real conversation as roommates. In that time Sophie had revealed it was her favorite book. In the moment Kate had been dismissive about having a ‘favorite’ book, and Sophie had taken her comments personally. It was a few weeks later when Sophie was looking for her copy that she realized Kate had been reading it. She remained mum on the issue until one Sunday morning she walked in on Kate reading it. Since then, Sophie had discovered her copy missing from time to time as Kate would periodically take it to reread different chapters. They had never discussed it - they didn’t need to. Instead there was an unspoken bond that grew out of the book. One of them would occasionally allude to a scene from it in public and they'd share a silent moment of recognition. 

It was these small things that attracted Sophie to Kate. It wasn’t that Kate was perfect - far from it, in fact. Between her bull-headed stubbornness and leaving the room in complete disarray, Sophie could fill a book with all the ways Kate was imperfect. But what she lacked in cleaning skills was made up in a bundle of other ways. She listened to the small things, even when it seemed like she was checked out. She cared about the people in her life to a fault, and Sophie had wondered how much of this trait was inherent to Kate from her childhood and how much grew out of Beth and her mom's untimely deaths. Kate thrived on maintaining an aloofness around people, but there were countless times she put herself in a jam to make sure others were better off. Martha was just the latest example of that - next to playing the evening's matchmaker, of course.

As much as Sophie had been angry about Kate going behind her back over winter break, she knew Kate’s reasoning wasn’t selfish; she was trying to find a solution. It was the same reason her and Melvin had just gone out on a fake date and why she was able to keep her scholarship after the incident in the woods: Kate saw a problem and, after evaluating the situation, immediately acted.

All of these little things added up to the person Sophie couldn't get out of her head. She knew the risks of her feelings, and, looking down on Kate's sleeping form, she couldn’t help but feel like those risks didn't matter when it involved someone as truly remarkable as Kate Kane.

Sophie slipped off her jacket and set it on her bed and heard a shift from Kate’s side of the room.

“Hey,” Kate said sleepily. “You’re back.”

“Your observation skills are getting better,” Sophie chuckled at Kate’s obvious statement from the other side of the room. She was trying to change out of her dress into something more comfortable and was fighting with the zipper.

“How was it?”

“Fine,” Sophie said distractedly, still struggling with the zipper. She felt it snag over and over.

Kate waited for Sophie to say more, her gaze averted for fear of breaking her poker face. Finally after a moment of silence, “That’s it? Just ‘fine’?”

“Can you help me with this?” Sophie’s frustrated voice cut in. “It’s stuck.”

Sophie appeared in front of Kate, her hand still fidgeting with the zipper as though it might magically release after a twentieth try.

“Oh,” Kate stammered out, frustrated by how such a simple request could send her into a nervous fit. “Uhm, sure,” she continued, watching Sophie turn around to reveal the unruly zipper line.

Kate shifted forward on the bed, bringing her hands up to the zipper. She could still smell the faint scent of lilac and felt her pulse quicken as she nested her fingers around the zipper’s tab. She pulled lamely at it, suddenly unsure where to put her other hand. The zipper extended down two inches before catching, and Kate was fighting to focus on the zipper and not the smooth skin being revealed behind the parting fabric.

“I think it might have a thread stuck in it,” Sophie considered out loud feeling the resistance of the pull.

“Right,” Kate replied, centering her gaze onto the teeth next to the slider, trying to find the culprit. “I don’t see anything.”

Sophie exhaled annoyed which encouraged Kate to redouble her efforts.

“It looks like it’s the zipper,” Kate said, now realizing one of the teeth had popped out of alignment. “It might be busted. Maybe you could just slip it off from here?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but my body isn’t exactly a pencil,” Sophie shot back.

Kate had noticed. Kate had noticed this countless times.

“Right, sorry,” Kate offered. “Uhm, ok, maybe I can just force it through? It might break the zipper though.”

Sophie let out a small laugh. “Well, if the alternative is being stuck in this dress for eternity, a broken zipper isn’t the worst thing.”

“Ok,” Kate replied, trying to keep her hands and fingers exclusively on the fabric. She gave it another try to no avail.

“Any luck?”

Kate didn’t say anything, instead keeping her attention on the zipper.

“It might help if yo-”

“I know how to unzip a zipper, Soph,” Kate cut in with more frustration than she meant. 

“Ok,” Sophie replied softly in surrender.

“Sorry.”

“You don’t have to be so delicate about it.”

Kate was growing frustrated in more than one way, and at this suggestion finally gave in, realizing her choreographed hand placement wasn’t doing the trick. She adjusted her left hand up to Sophie’s exposed back, grabbing the edges of the fabric. She pretended to ignore the softness of Sophie’s skin and her growing desire to feel more of it as she pulled more assertively on the tab. After two more pulls, she felt the zip finally give in and slide easily down the length of Sophie’s back, stopping just below the top edge of her black panties.

“Thank you!” Sophie exclaimed, feeling the release of the fabric and the cool air on her exposed skin. 

“Mhm,” was all Kate could muster in reply, suddenly wishing the zipper had caught a second time.

* * *

“Scoot,” Sophie said, motioning for Kate to slide over to make room. She had just returned from the bathroom, freshly makeupless and smelling faintly of mint. She climbed onto the bed to sit next to Kate, resting her back against the wall. 

“So,” Kate began. “How was it?”

“What did you want to be when you grew up?” Sophie asked, bypassing Kate’s question.

“Oh, uhm, well, I have two answers. There’s the one I put in my college essays, and then there’s the real one.”

Sophie chuckled. “Ok, give me both.”

“The fake one is a state senator -”

“You didn’t,” Sophie cut in, trying to imagine Kate playing politics.

“I did,” she said, grinning proudly back at Sophie. “I figured ‘President’ was a bit overplayed. Plus America’s not ready for a woman, let alone a lesbian.”

“All right, so that’s your fake one. What’s the real one?”

“Charlie’s Angels.”

“What?”

“Yea, I want to be a private agent; preferably I’m not answering to a mystery box, but you know, if given the option I suppose I could live with it.”

“That’s what you wanted to be when you grew up?” Sophie asked, looking at Kate in amazement.

“And still do. They’re badass; way better than James Bond,” Kate replied with a tone that suggested she was dead serious. “So, how was your night?”

“It was actually really great,” Sophie said, wanting to continue discussing Kate’s dream job but figuring it was best to get her night out of the way. She slowly broke into a detailed description of it starting from her meeting Melvin in the lobby. 

Kate sat listening to Sophie summarize her evening with Melvin. She wasn’t sure what to expect Sophie to say when she posed her question, but part of her had hoped it would be more cut and dry: where they went, who saw them, what they ate, done. Instead, Sophie was energetically sharing her ‘date’ in detail, and Kate couldn’t help but feel her jealousy growing. She didn’t want to hear about what a date with Sophie was like; she wanted to be the one on the date with Sophie.

“-and that’s when he kissed me. After that w-”

“What?” Kate cut in, torn out of her silent simmering.

“What?”

“Kissed? He kissed you?” Kate asked, appalled at the idea. She didn’t even try hiding her surprise.

“Well, yea. What did you expect?” Sophie asked, her tone level but her curiosity peaked by Kate’s outburst. She wondered if this might be the opening to finally discuss the taboo topic that had been lingering on the periphery of their conversations for weeks.

“I… just… it’s - was it - did you li- I mean, it was the first date, is all,” Kate jumbled out, trying to recover from her initial reaction.

“Because you’ve  _ never _ kissed someone on the first date,” Sophie shot back, citing Kate’s escapades from before Point Rock. “Oh, wait, that’s right, I forgot you wait months like the well-mannered lady you are.”

The double-edged jab landed perfectly, and Kate wordlessly gaped back at Sophie.

Sophie stared at Kate, expecting a quip in reply and hesitated when she realized one wasn’t coming. “Are you ok with this?”

It was an open-ended question that could be translated any number of ways. Sophie knew this, and she had asked it to give Kate the opportunity to choose its meaning.

“What? Oh, yea, totally. Just was surprised Melvin would be so forward so early is all,” Kate said. She struggled to keep her tone cool as she bluffed her way through the reply, and hoped Sophie wouldn’t see right through it.

“Right,” Sophie said softly, frustrated by Kate’s words. They still hadn’t actually discussed what happened that last night of term, and Sophie was finding it harder and harder to accept Kate’s deflecting tone when it came to it. She wanted to know if Kate’s feelings about it matched her own. She also wanted more than anything a repeat of that night without a Mike Miller interruption. Instead, Kate seemed insistent that it be swept under the rug like it was nothing.

“It would be nice to get a real answer from you one of these days, Kate,” Sophie said after a moment. She let the words sit for a minute, but when Kate didn’t respond, she couldn’t help but sigh. “I’m off to bed. Thanks again for your help with the dress.”

“Yea. Anyti- sure,” Kate said, catching herself as she watched Sophie hop off her bed and transition back to her side of the room.


	5. Chapter 5

**Monday | morning**

"See you tonight?"

Sophie stared back confusedly. "Sorry?"

"Library?" Kate continued, packing her backpack with supplies from her desk. She stared equally in confusion at Sophie’s reaction; they always spent Monday nights in the library studying together. It was their way of getting ahead of the workload going into the rest of the week.

"Oh, right, sorry, I forgot to tell you. I'm tutoring Irwin tonight."

"What? I thought that was Tuesday?"

"He needed to change it because they've rescheduled boxing for Tuesday nights now."

"Irwin boxes?”

“Yea, how else do you think he manages his anger issues?”

“Huh."

"I'll probably be out late with him, but I’ll see you back here, yea?"

“Sure.”

**Monday | evening**

“Hey Kate, which do you prefer: Melphie or Sophvin?”

“What?” Kate asked, setting her tray next to Chelsea before sitting down.

“We’re trying to pick Sophie and Melvin’s couple name. Which do you like better?” Chelsea continued through a mouthful of salad.

“I think both are terrible,” Kate said.

“I agree,” Martha chimed in. “I’ve been telling you that all day,” she said to Chelsea before turning back to Kate. “She’s trying to force the name. You can’t force it.”

“But all the best couples have one,” Chelsea whined. “And they’re just so cute together. Kate, you’ve gotta tell us how it all started.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“Are you kidding? Aren’t you and Sophie like, best friends or something? She must have told you she was crushing hard.”

“Yea, it’s not something I listen for,” Kate said dismissively. “You should ask her.”

“I overheard Jill talking about it earlier. Apparently, he  _ saved her life _ ,” Chelsea continued. 

“Is that right?” Kate asked, her interest unexpectedly piqued. “How did he do that?”

“Honestly Kate, how do you not already know this stuff,” Martha pressed.

“Oh! There’s Melvin. Let’s ask him; Melvin! Over here!” Chelsea called out across the cafeteria before anyone could stop her.

“Ladies,” Melvin said, greeting them with a grin. 

“We need your help,” Chelsea continued. “Which do you prefer: Melphie or Sophvin?”

“Are these Pokemon?” Melvin asked, his eyes squinting skeptically. “Cause I never got into that.”

“I thought you were asking how they got together,” Martha said.

“Who says I’m limited to one question?” Chelsea scoffed in mock annoyance. “Melvin, we’re trying to figure out your couple name. But also, we need to hear how you two got together. It wasn’t exactly a shock because, well, you’re obviously perfect together.”

“Uh, well, it just sort of happened. We’re just like any two people who got to know each other a bit.”

“That’s not what I heard. I heard you saved her life,” Chelsea pressed, clearing a space at the table for him to join. “Plus you were  _ always _ stopping by her room last semester. Right, Kate?”

“I don’t remember,” Kate said, returning her focus on her burger.

“So it was last semester then?” Martha asked, glancing between Kate and Melvin curiously.

“I guess, yea,” Melvin confessed. Kate glanced at Melvin who looked unprepared for the onslaught from Chelsea and Martha. She weighed whether or not to jump in and help him - he was the one doing her and Sophie the favor after all, but she was finding a small amount of enjoyment at watching him squirm.

“So how did it happen?” Chelsea pressed.

Melvin sighed, glancing at Kate hesitantly before continuing. “D-do you remember the night Miller blundered the drill course?”

"Which time?" Chelsea chuckled.

"Er… the time with the pole," Melvin continued.

“Last fall you mean? Yea, I heard about that. Didn’t people get pinned inside the metal tubes?” Martha asked.

“Yea, Sophie did,” Melvin continued.

“And you saved her?!” Chelsea asked, her enthusiasm for romantic tales not going missed by anyone at the table.

“Well, no. I-I didn’t know it had happened until she returned to the dorms.”

Kate paused mid-bite, her focus now on Melvin’s words. She glanced up at him and noted he seemed very intent on looking at anything but Kate.

“How do you mean?” Martha asked, egging him on. She was almost getting as bad as Chelsea.

“Uh, well, I-I found her, soaking wet in the lobby,” Melvin began awkwardly, avoiding the hard gaze Kate was giving him. “And, she was freezing cold. A-and, so, I brought her back to my room.”

Kate leaned back in her seat, at a complete loss for words.

“And then?”

“Well, she had symptoms of hypothermia, so I did the only thing I knew: I tried bringing her body temperature up with mine.”

“That. Is soooo romantic,” Chelsea said, her hands pressed to her chest in aw.

“It is, isn’t it,” Kate chimed in, staring back at Melvin with a cold distance.

“And so that’s when you knew? You saved her life and knew she was the one?”

“Uh, yea, I suppose so,” Melvin replied, keeping his gaze on Martha and Chelsea.

“Tell us  _ everything _ about that night,” Chelsea demanded.

“Well, I’ve heard this story one too many times, so if you’ll excuse me,” Kate said, promptly standing with her unfinished tray of food.

“But I thought you said you hadn’t heard the story,” Martha noted, still glancing between Kate and Melvin with a hint of suspicion.

“Melvin’s saved Sophie’s life so many times - it’s hard to keep track of which one was the magical moment."

“But you've hardly touched your food,” Chelsea noted.

“I wasn’t actually that hungry.”

“Hey, Kate, hold up for a second,” Melvin said, rising from his seat. “I’ll be right back,” he grinned, trying to seem casual before racing after Kate.

“Kate… Kate, I’m sorry. I panicked.”

“Sorry for what?” Kate asked dismissively, sliding her food tray onto a rack of fellow dirty dishes.

“What I said back there… I-I didn’t know what else to say. Someone overheard Sophie telling me about that night, and then it ran like wildfire, and now people think I was you.”

“Well it worked, didn’t it?” Kate said simply, turning to face Melvin.

“I mean, I guess. It’s still a dick thing to take credit for,” Melvin said awkwardly.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kate replied. She stared at Melvin blankly but inside was burning in frustration. To hear that Sophie was sharing details about that night with Melvin set her off. While on the surface it seemed like a silly thing to be upset by: it's base story was that Sophie had a near death experience and then she was fine. But in that there was something intimate about that night for Kate. They hadn't shared that night with anyone, and she saw no reason to tell anyone else. It as a moment meant to be shared only between her and Sophie. To know Sophie had told Melvin and, by accident now a number of her classmates also knew suddenly stripped that meaning from her.

“She wasn’t trying to betray your trust,” Melvin said, reading Kate’s mind.

“So then what was she doing?”

“Kate… come on, don’t make this a thing.”

“I’m not. You’re the one who followed me in here," she said before leaving. 

**Monday | night**

"How was your day?" Kate asked looking up from the video game she’d been playing for the last two hours. She quickly hit pause on the game controller. Her mood had tempered from earlier, but only slightly. After returning to the dorm, she tried concentrating on homework but that quickly dissolved into a waste of time, so she determined there was no better way to continue wasting time than by pummeling fictional characters into the ground.

"Exhausting. Irwin really has a way of trying your patience," Sophie muttered, tossing her bag next to her desk.

"And you wondered why I was such a hardass on him last semester," Kate half-chuckled back, trying to keep her mood light. "Want to talk about it?"

"Honestly, I just want to shower and go to bed. I need to be up early as it is, and my session with Irwin ran an hour longer than I expected."

"Early? What for?"

"Melvin and I are going for a run," Sophie replied, digging out her shower caddy.

"Oh," Kate said, suddenly feeling a familiar resentment grow.

"Figured it'd be good to be seen doing 'normal' things together."

"Sure, yea. Makes sense.”

"Do you mind putting that on mute when I get back?" Sophie asked, gesturing to the game console.

"No problem."

"Thanks, Kate."

**Tuesday | evening**

"You're back late," Sophie remarked as Kate trudged into the room covered in mud.

" _ Someone _ left their bow at the top of the ridge."

"Miller?"

"As if it could have been anyone else. And given his track record, the guy running the utility room wouldn't give us a pass till tomorrow, and I couldn't let him wander back alone, so I went with him."

"Ouch. You really should limit the time you commit to that."

“Says the one tutoring Irwin for hours a week.”

“Yea, but he’s paying me to tutor. You’re giving up your time for free.”

“It’s fine,” Kate said, feeling her annoyance flare. “What've you been up to?"

"I actually just got back. Was finishing up Gilmet's assignment with Melvin."

"Ugh, I haven't started," Kate said. Her plan had been to finish practice drills two hours earlier which would have aligned perfectly with the end of Sophie’s last class meaning they could study together. But because Miller was Miller, she’d spent those extra two hours tracking down a bow on the top of a dark, cold bolder-top.

"Why didn't you do it last night?"

"Because I didn’t." Kate replied, frustrated at the situation. It wasn’t like her to get annoyed, but the last few days were eating at her temper.

“Why not?” Sophie asked, confused that Kate would let something like this slide.

“Does it matter?” Kate shot back, grabbing her bookbag and supplies. “I’ll be in the lounge.”

**Wednesday | morning**

“When did you get in last night?” Sophie asked, seeing Kate finally shift upright in her bed.

“What?”

“I didn’t hear you.”

“You were asleep,” Kate answered simply, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“I-I know. That’s why I’m asking now.”

“Late, I guess,” Kate continued, hopping out of bed.

“Ok...Do you want to walk to class together?”

“No, I’m gonna shower first. You go ahead.”

“But you’ll be late.”

“And?”

“Nothing. Just… nothing, I’ll see you in class.”

**Wednesday | night**

“Where were you?” Kate asked, closing Sophie’s copy of  _ Little Women _ and slipping it onto her desk.

“Movie night in the student center.”

“Since when was that a thing?”

“Since always? Melvin asked me to go. It was French.”

“Right.”

“It was last minute.”

“Sure.”

“What are you up t-”

“I’m going to bed. Mind if I flip off the light?”

“Oh, ok, sure, let me just turn on my lamp.”

“Great.”

“Ok… goodnight Kate.”

"Night."

**Thursday | morning**

“What are you up to tonight?”

“Nothing special, why?” Kate replied, her tone controlled. She didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but a small glimmer of excitement rushed through her at the thought of making plans together. She wasn’t used to feeling jealous about things, and Sophie’s time suddenly becoming so limited was eating at her. That Sophie was asking about her plans meant she might have prioritized tonight to finally hang out which was exactly what she needed.

“So you’ll be around?”

“Yea, why?” Kate replied, a small grin playing across her face.

“Do you mind hanging out with James?” 

“What?” Kate asked in shocked confusion, her face falling, unable to hide her annoyance.

“Er, well, what I really mean is: is it cool if James crashes here tonight?” Sophie asked, her cheeks blushing from embarrassment.

“Why?”

“Well, he hasn’t made up with his girlfriend yet and doesn’t have anywhere else to go…”

“I don’t understand,” Kate replied, trying to grapple with Sophie’s words.

“Melvin thought it would be a good idea if…”

“If what, Sophie?”

“If it seems like we’re, you know, together-together,” Sophie finished.

“Oh.”

“And so, it would mean James needs somewhere else to stay for the night. If you’re not ok with it, I ca-”

“No, totally fine. Makes sense,” Kate cut in curtly.

“Ok. I’ll give him my key, then.”

“Great.”

A silence fell between them. Sophie stared at Kate, noting how short she was being but not quite sure why.

“Are yo-”

“I’m running late. I’ll see you in Physics,” Kate cut in.

“Yea, sure.”

**Thursday | evening**

“So, what do you think they’re doing?” James joked. Kate looked up from her notebook at him with annoyance. He was splayed out over the length of the couch, his eyes plastered on the television.

“That’s strike two. One more and you’re sleeping in the lounge tonight.”

“Hey, hey, just trying to make light conversation. No need to get all worked up. Besides,  _ I  _ brought you cake."

“That’s what you consider ‘light conversation’?”

“I didn’t realize it was such a sensitive topic,” James replied, his undertone not going unnoticed by Kate.

“You couldn’t ask something normal like ‘got plans for spring break?’”

“Oh, well, sure, but I don’t have anything interesting to say about that: I’m stuck here.”

“What do you mean? No ‘girls gone wild’ Florida trips for you?” Kate asked, not believing James would skip out on the opportunity to objectify hordes of women. It was a wonder he had a girlfriend at all.

“Not all of us are millionaires, Kate,” James tried to joke, but his face revealed a slight jadedness.

“I didn’t mean… I’m sorry.”

“It’s cool. I went to Colorado for winter break. What about you? Flying to Europe on your private jet or something?”

“Just Gotham.”

“Still sounds way better than Point Rock.”

* * *

“You’ve been unusually quiet,” Melvin noted, breaking the silence that had lingered for nearly an hour.

“Hm? Just focusing on this physics homework, I guess.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“Physics homework? No, not especially.”

“I meant about whatever’s going on with you and Kate.”

“Who said there was anything going on?”

“Your face.”

Sophie sighed. “There isn’t much to say.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning exactly that: there isn’t much to say. We’ve said all of fifty words to each other since Monday.”

“Did you guys have a fight?”

“Not as far as I know.”

“When did it start?”

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Sophie began, trying to trace the origins of the tension. “I mean… she was weird Friday night, but everything seemed fine over the weekend.”

Melvin nodded thoughtfully. “Was everything actually fine or is that how you wanted to see it?”

Sophie paused, trying to recall the weekend. Now that she reflected on it, she realized Kate had been unusually absent. She had vied for a night out Saturday and left the room late Sunday morning for a day-long hike in the woods. 

“Actually, now that you mention it…”

“You guys haven’t actually talked about this, have you?” he asked, gesturing at both Sophie and himself.

“Not really, no,” Sophie admitted. “It doesn’t help that she deflects though.”

“And I’m guessing she didn’t tell you about our run-in with Martha and Chelsea in the cafeteria.”

“What run in?”

Melvin sighed before filling Sophie in. He gave her the high points, knowing she’d be able to piece enough of it together to understand the gist.

“Wait, but what did she say? Was she upset that I told you?”

“I couldn’t tell. She tried writing it off as me making it into something, but I got the impression she wasn’t thrilled.”

“But I talked with her Monday night and she seemed… fine? If she was upset, she didn’t tell me.”

“Sounds like classic Kate.”

“Her stubbornness? Tell me about it," Sophie said with a sigh.

“That’s not what I’m referring to. Don’t tell me you haven’t gathered that Kate Kane would do just about anything for you."

“I don’t understand what you mean. And even so, that’s got nothing to do with this.”

“Doesn’t it?” Melvin rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on Soph. I’ve been playing Kate’s go-between for months. I know you don’t need me to convince you she’s head over heels for you, do I? You’re a smart girl. She’s obviously jealous as hell, and that she won’t talk about this stuff makes that all the more clear.”

“It’s Sophie,” she replied automatically before losing herself in thought. The truth was Melvin’s words hit her harder than she expected. A part of her had built a wall against thinking Kate might actually think of her as more than a friend. The number of times she had deflected talking about it over the last few weeks had been evidence enough for Sophie that Kate saw it as a one-off moment. Once that was established, she had easily convinced herself that Kate’s investment in Sophie’s enrollment was because of her inherent fault in wanting to fix everything. It was the same reason she walked back the top of a ridge with Miller to collect a forgotten bow.

In contrast, Melvin’s comments suggested that the part Sophie had spent weeks burying down might have some weight: for Kate, this was actually something more than helping out a roommate in a pinch.

“Right, sorry - ‘Sophie’. But now try and tell me anything else about what I just said is wrong,” Melvin remarked in challenge.

Sophie’s brow curled into a frown as she analyzed Melvin’s words. “But she’s been so…”

“So what? Cool? Seemingly nonchalant but short-tempered? Distant?”

“For being my fake boyfriend, you sure know her pretty well.”

“Six sisters, remember?”

**Friday | afternoon**

"Hey, there you are."

"Your observation skills are getting better."

"James said you went out and didn't come back last night. I was worried," Sophie continued eyeing Kate's hollow cheeks and the dark circles under her eyes with concern. “Rough night?”

"A friend was passing through."

"Oh, neat. Anyone you’ve told me about?"

"I do-"

"Hey Sophie!" Came a voice from across the cafeteria cutting Kate off.

The two glanced up and saw Melvin making his way toward them.

“And Kate! Sorry, didn’t see you. Woa, late night?” Melvin asked, remarking on Kate’s appearance as he casually wrapped his arm around Sophie’s waist. Kate’s eyes narrowed slightly as they shared a brief kiss for the wandering eyes around them.

“We’re going to grab a bite then hit up Lucky Shots over in Camden.”

“Camden? Isn’t that like, thirty miles away?”

“Closer to twenty, but James and his girlfriend were looking for a couple to go on a double date, so we figured ‘why not’.”

“ _ We _ ? Already a collective,” Kate noted, dryly. “Are they back together?”

“Eh, we’ll see. They’re testing the waters. I think Sophie and I are acting as the  _ bumpers  _ to their date tonight,” Melvin said with a cheesy grin as Sophie broke out into a chuckle. Kate stared blankly at the two of them, trying to put a cap on her growing annoyance at seeing them so cozy. What she didn't see was nervous look on Sophie's or the way Melvin's arm fell limply back to his side after a moment.

“Well, that sounds like a blast,” Kate replied sarcastically.

“You could come with,” Sophie offered. “James’ car has five seats; you could totally squeeze in.”

“I’m sure Kate already has plans,” Melvin chimed in, reading the vibes between Sophie and Kate. After the previous night's discussion, the last thing Melvin wanted was to put Kate in the middle of a four hour excursion where she'd watch him and Sophie acting couply.

“Kate?”

“Actually, Melvin’s right. In fact, I should get going,” Kate replied coolly.

**Saturday | afternoon**

“Have you seen Kate?”

“Kate Kane?”

“James, are we really doing this again?”

“Hey, you never know.”

Sophie scowled in annoyance. “And yet you still know exactly who I’m talking about.”

“Isn’t she like,  _ your  _ best friend? Why do you always ask me?” 

“So is that a yes or no?”

“Jeez. Your temper is going to get the best of you Sophie Moore.”

Sophie’s scowl deepened.

“Why?”

“She didn’t come back last night,” Sophie replied.

“Probably because she left,” James mused.

“What do you mean?”

“Well unlike you and me, not all of us are stuck here for spring break.”

“What?”

“Spring break? That magical week every year where students run off to Panama Beach?”

“That’s next week, James.”

“Seems like someone’s been spending too much time in her honeymoon phase.”

Sophie stared at James for a moment before James' words dawned on her. She glanced around and noted for the first time how quiet the floor had been all morning. It also explained the half-empty classes from the day before.

“Wait… what’s today?” she asked, suddenly doing the math.

“It’s Saturday? The… 22nd? No, wait, Thursday was the 21st, so toda-”

“Oh no. It’s the 23rd,” Sophie uttered, almost as a whisper. “I am such an ass.”

“Is this the part where you realize you missed Kate’s birthday?” James asked, now leaning casually against the wall. 

“What? Shit. Uhm, something like that.”

“By two days, I might add.”

Sophie sighed at James’ comment. She had forgotten more than Kate’s birthday.

“Spent it having fake sex with your fake boy toy, I might add.”

“Excuse me?"

"Oh don't act surprised. I know you two aren't really together. But don't worry, everyone else believes you two are blissfully in love," he teased.

Sophie gaped back at James, livid that he'd known.

"Did you want to add anything else?” Sophie said, her tone sharp with frustration.

“All done,” James said, raising his hands in surrender.

“Can I borrow your phone?”

“Don’t you have one?” James asked, defensively.

“Melvin has it.”

“Why does Melvin have it?”

“Because he was holding it last night an - does it even matter? Can I borrow it or not?”

“Yea, sure. Keep it short though - I’m running low on minutes for the month.”

Sophie grabbed it from James and quickly typed in Kate’s number by heart. She paced nervously as the phone rang unanswered for one… two… three… fo-

“Kate’s phone,” came a voice on the other end.

“Kate! It’s me,” Sophie rushed without thinking. “I am so so sorr-”

“Who’s this? Wait, hang on,” the voice cut in before pausing, and Sophie suddenly realized it wasn’t Kate. She heard a garbled muffle over the mic and the next set of phrases were muted by what Sophie assumed to be a hand. “Hey babe? Babe, you’ve got a call… yes, obviously I picked it up… I don’t know, some chick… who? I said I don’t know, she didn’t say-”

Sophie quickly pressed ‘end’ on the call and stared at the screen.

“What was that about?” James asked. Sophie looked up, having forgotten he was still there.

“Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“Ah, two of my favorite people,” came Melvin’s voice down the hall. “I wondered where you’d gone off to. Any sight of Kate?”

“Oh not you, too,” James sighed. “You two are vying for worst friend status.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” Melvin asked, his face riddled with confusion.

“It’s March 23rd,” was all Sophie could say, still staring at the phone's screen in shock.

“No, shit.”

“You guys know her birthday is March 21, right? Because even I know that,” James interjected.

Sophie leaned against the corridor hall, her eyes closed in irritation. “We know, James.”

“So why are you obsessing over today?”

“Because March 23rd is the day Kate’s mom and sister died."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: There is a slight discrepancy between Kate Kane's birthday in this story and Kate Kane's birthday on the CW show. In the CW's take, Kate's birthday is January 26. In the comics, her birthday is March 21. I'm not sure why this was changed for the show - I imagine the storyline at the time contributed to it - but I've gone ahead and revised this detail to match the comic books.


	6. Chapter 6

“You’re quiet again.”

“Hm? Oh,” Sophie said, pulled from her thoughts. “Would you believe me if I said I was really focused on this Physics homework?”

“Well, first, that’s your Calculus book, so: no. And second, you have no poker face, so, again: no.”

Sophie glanced at the book in front of her in surprise. She could have sworn she’d been working on physics before her mind wandered.

“Have you two worked it out?” Melvin asked, alluding to her and Kate.

After Sophie had called Kate from James’ phone, she hadn’t reached out again. Melvin was the one to call later that Saturday to check in with Kate. He had the call on speakerphone, and Sophie couldn't help but note Kate sounded especially distant. The call was less than three minutes long and filled with a lot of ‘it’s fine’ and ‘don’t worry about it’, but Kate’s tone didn’t suggest it. Sophie couldn’t tell whether this distance was because it was the anniversary of her sister and mom’s death, that Melvin had forgotten the day, or that Kate was hiding something more. 

It was only when Melvin pressed Sophie after the call about why she hadn't spoken up that she admitted to calling earlier and relayed the news that Kate wasn’t exactly alone. 'Babe' was there.

Melvin, to his credit, was shocked by the news. Kate was many things, but elusive was not one of them - not to Melvin - at least he thought. He’d credited himself with being Kate’s secret keeper and felt hurt that she’d have kept something like this news from him. He privately wondered what could have compelled her to hide it in the first place: she wasn’t one to shy away from her orientation, and he couldn’t imagine that being the reason. A small part of him wondered if she was worried about Sophie’s reaction. Perhaps it was a fellow student and Kate was worried the information in the wrong hands could result in expulsion. He quickly dismissed this though: if she wasn't willing to put Sophie's enrolment in danger, he couldn't see her doing it with anyone else. 

James confirmed she was spending her break in Gotham, and that opened a whole world of possibility for Kate's mystery girl: it wasn't a secret Kate had a few exes, most of which she was still on good terms with. Perhaps it was one of them.

Still, that didn’t explain why Melvin didn’t know. He recognized that their conversations had dwindled over the last week or two, but a new relationship also didn’t feel like something Kate would have rushed into - especially given her history with and feelings for Sophie.

Over spring break week, Melvin messaged Kate sporadically to check in with her. There was nothing atypical about her communication, and Melvin began feeling more and more hurt by her not sharing her new beau with him. Halfway through the break he almost confronted her about it, but he didn’t want that conflict on top of everything else. He still felt bad that he and Sophie had been so caught up in maintaining their charade that they'd both forgotten two important dates. 

As the week progressed, another part of him wondered if she was holding a grudge against him for forgetting her birthday, but he also recalled her very explicitly stating she hated celebrating her birthday. It wouldn’t be like her to hold something this inconsequential against him. He wasn't so sure about March 23, though.

“Not exactly,” Sophie replied.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning ‘no’, Mel.”

“It’s  _ Melvin _ ,” he shot back jokingly before quickly sobering. “I haven’t actually talked to her much, either," he admitted.

It was Saturday; Kate had returned the previous Saturday evening at the tail end of spring break. Sophie had been in the room when she arrived packing a bag for the following night to stay at Melvin’s. James had been invited to his girlfriend's after weeks of probation, and Sophie planned to use it as an opportunity to keep up expectations with Melvin while avoiding Kate for one more day. Unfortunately she had timed her return to the room all wrong:

“Oh, hey,” Sophie said in surprise. “You're back early."

"Yea, it looked like rain tomorrow."

"No Easter celebrations?"

"Jewish, remember?"

"Right… right. Sorry, I knew… I mean… I don’t even know why I said that - I didn't...I just didn’t think you’d be back till later…”

“Going somewhere?” Kate asked, nodding at Sophie’s backpack.

"Uh…"Sophie replied, suddenly unsure how to respond.

"Didn't realize you two were getting so cozy. Barely anyone here," Kate said, alluding to the fact it made no sense for Sophie to keep up appearances when most of campus was still away on break. She was clearly reading Sophie’s packing as a sign that she intended to be at Melvin’s that night.

“Well, actually, Mel-”

“Got it. Should I be expecting James?”

“Oh, no. He’s uhm - what is that?” Sophie asked, distracted by the round, black spherical object in Kate’s hand. “Is… is that a helmet?”

Kate glanced down at her hand as though she’d forgotten she was carrying it. “Oh, yea.”

“For what?”

“My bike.”

“What, like a moped? That’s a bit overkill, don’t you think?” Sophie asked, thinking about all the rich-kid vespas navigating the campus paths. She was surprised Kate would follow the trend, but she was starting to realize maybe she didn’t know Kate as well as she thought.

“I guess?”

“I assume your butler in the parking lot unloading it from a trailer, too?” Sophie asked without thinking. She froze, suddenly unsure why she’d made the jab. She wasn’t one to say things like that, and especially not to Kate of all people. It was months into the previous semester before Sophie had even correlated her surname with the famed Kanes of Gotham City. Even after that, Kate downplayed it heavily - it wasn’t something she talked about, and she even seemed uncomfortable with the idea of it. That Sophie had just called attention to it made Kate's cheeks redden slightly, and she knew she'd overstepped. “Uh… well, I just mean-”

“I rode it back, actually,” Kate replied, staring curiously at Sophie.

“You rode a vespa from Gotham?”

“I never said it was a vespa,” Kate said, tossing her bag and helmet onto her bed. “Good break?”

“Yea. But actually I’m running late. Chat later?” she said as a throwaway remark. She felt frazzled by the entire exchange - she wasn’t prepared to see Kate now after a week of silence. Should she confront her about her secret ‘babe’? Apologize for missing not one but  _ two _ key anniversaries? Talk about the ruse her and Melvin had been playing on the school? Or, Sophie's preference, pretend like none of that existed? Instead of addressing any of it, she took the easy way out and fled. She wasn’t even sure Melvin was in his room as she quickly left hers, her bag half-packed for the next evening in tow. Fortunately Melvin was in and James' girlfriend had gracefully granted James early access to her place.

Since then Sophie had intentionally avoided the room whenever possible. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to Kate - to the contrary; she missed her. But she also felt hurt and betrayed. These weren't feelings she was used to, and that they came from someone she cared so much about made her avoid any sort of confrontation. She didn’t know how to broach the topic without getting angry or worse yet, accidentally revealing feelings Kate didn’t reciprocate. 

Unfortunately for her, it took less than three days for James and his girlfriend to sour: what was once a relationship on thin ice suddenly came crashing down and James found himself single by Wednesday. With her bunk at Melvin’s retaken, that meant she needed to spend Wednesday night in her own room. Sophie strategized an especially late study night at the library and only returned to the room well after Kate would be asleep.

When Thursday morning came around, she was less skillful at avoidance. She’d accidentally slept through her alarm and found herself face to face with Kate as she readied for the day. Having never slept through an alarm in her entire life, she was convinced it was fate setting her up for the disaster that followed:

“Haven’t seen you in a while,” Kate commented coolly. She’d clearly been up for a while and was watching Sophie frantically jump from corner to corner of the room getting ready.

“Yea. Busy, I guess.”

“Sure.”

“Hey, is it cool if James crashes here again?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll give him my key so you’re free to do whatever,” Sophie said dismissively, searching for her deodorant. Between swapping from her room and Melvin’s, she was losing track of where everything was. After shuffling through her bag, she found it at the bottom and quickly pulled it out with relief.

“It’s fine, I’ll be here.”

“Sure,  _ ok _ ,” Sophie said sarcastically, only half-paying attention. She’d half-expected Kate to be absent the night prior and was surprised to see her form curled up in bed when she slipped in after midnight.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kate asked, clearly caught off guard by the remark. “I don’t go out that much, and definitely not in the middle of the week.”

“I think we both know what I mean,” Sophie said, more aggressively than even she expected. Something about Kate’s attitude and dishonesty paired with her running late for class had pushed her to a point of instigation, and after days of dodging, Sophie's indecision about whether to bring it up had finally spilled over.

“I don’t think  _ we _ do, Sophie,” Kate replied tersely, her eyes narrowed in confusion.

“I’m just saying you’re free to do whatever you want with your night.”

“Ok?” Kate said. “Thanks?”

Sophie stared at Kate with a new frustration. “I know about your mystery girl, ok?”

“Come again?”

“It’s fine - you don’t have to tell me about her, Kate but don’t play dumb about it. I think I deserve more than that from you.”

“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The ‘friend’ who was passing through? Was she also the girl from spring break?”

“Sophie, what are you talking about?” Kate asked, her voice cutting in annoyance.

“Oh stop playing dumb ok, Kate? I deserve more than that. ‘ _ Babe’ _ ? I heard her on the phone.”

Kate continued to gape in confusion for a moment longer before finally understanding Sophie’s words.

_ “Hello?” Kate said, bringing the phone to her ear. She paused, her brow furrowing into a scowl as she waited for a response through the silence on the other end. “Hello?” _

_ She pulled the phone from her ear and realized the call had ended. She scanned through her recent calls and saw James’ contact at the top of the list. _

_ “You sure it wasn’t a guy?” _

_ “Definitely a chick. You gonna call back?” _

_ “Maybe later,” Kate replied. “Someone’s probably nicked his phone again.” _

_ “Again?” _

_ “He’s not the most attentive.” _

_ “Boys are the worst.” _

_ “I see you’re taking this break-up well. Massive improvement from last night’s ‘men are the scum of the earth’ attitude.” _

_ “Babe, you have no idea.” _

_ “When did this become a thing? It’s tacky.” _

_ “All the kids are saying it,  _ babe _.” _

_ “I can still leave.” _

_ “No! Don’t leave me. I’m still so sad.” _

_ “I can see that.” _

_ “Plus we still have all this ice cream to eat.” _

_ “I can get ice cream anywhere, Mary.” _

_ “I know, I know,” Mary said apologetically, waving her hands in exasperation. “But Dad got it from across town and it’d be rude to leave it to melt.” _

_ “This is really your argument to get me to stay?” _

_ “Depends; is it working?” _

_ “Yes, but only because he got my favorite.” _

_ “Hey,” Mary said, her tone becoming serious, “thank you for coming. Especially today of all days. It means a lot.” _

_ “Well what are step-sisters for if not to bail each other out of gut-wrenching teenage heartbreaks?” _

_ “I can’t think of anything. So, tell me about school. Any cuties? Get laid yet? Do anything fun for your birthday?” _

“That was you?”

“That was  _ Mary _ ?” Sophie asked, stunned by the revelation. She scanned through her memory of the call, trying to remember the details, the words, the voice. It had felt as clear as day all week, but suddenly there was a haze of uncertainty that clouded the memory. She stared back at Kate unsure what to say: all of her suspicions had suddenly come crashing down. She felt uncertain of everything. If Mary was on the other side of the call, she’d been an even worse friend than she thought for drawing all sorts of wrong conclusions.

“Why did you hang up?” Kate asked in surprise. 

“I…”

“And, why didn’t you ask me about it sooner?” she continued, her annoyance slowly growing.

“Kate… I…”

“And why were you using James’ phone?” Kate continued, her mind slowly unravelling the last week and a half of their lack of communication.

“I… Melvin had mine so I-”

“Actually, forget I asked,” Kate said, grabbing her jacket. “I’ll see you later.”

“Kate, wait, don’t - please. I’m sorry; I… I don’t know what I was thinking,” Sophie rushed, wishing she could rewind the last two weeks.

“I think it’s pretty clear what you were thinking,” Kate challenged, her green eyes glaring intensely at Sophie in accusation.

“What?”

“Is that really how you see me?”

“I don’t understand.”

“It took you half a second to decide I was off hooking up with someone.”

“That -that’s not true,” Sophie said defensively. 

“Yea? So this whole week, you haven’t been sitting on this? You’re saying this conversation wasn’t your loaded way of trying to pin me down and admit I was hiding something from you?”

Sophie stared back at Kate, feeling exposed and unsure of herself. “I… I don’t know.”

“I think you do, and you just aren’t ready to admit it out loud."

"It's hard to know what to think when you're never open enough to tell me anything, Kate."

"So you just got off and assumed the worst about someone? About a friend? Because apparently the history that comes with months of being roommates can be thrown away over something as trivial as a ten second phone call that  _ you _ hung up on. Well I'm sorry I couldn't fulfill on your amazingly low expectations of me. And after everything…” Kate began before trailing off. Her voice had been rising in anger, and the sudden silence rang through the room. She watched Sophie struggle with Kate’s accusation, her temper getting the better of her. “Cool. Better to know now, I guess. Tell James he’s welcome to stay so you and Melvin can do whatever the hell it is you’re doing together.”

“This was your idea, remember?” Sophie shot back defensively, jolting out of her stupor at Kate’s words. It landed poorly - she knew her first words should have been something else as she watched Kate’s demeanor transition from anger to… sadness? Disappointment? Resignation? It wasn’t a look Sophie had ever seen on Kate’s face before, but the sudden loss of spark in Kate’s eyes had been cemented in her memory since then.

“Yes, Sophie, it was. Does it look like I’m stopping you?”

Kate stared at Sophie who was left grappling with her realization that everything she’d spent the last two weeks thinking was completely wrong.

“That’s what I thought,” Kate said, throwing the door open before walking out.

They’d not spoken since, and Sophie spent the next three days racked with guilt.

“I hate this,” Sophie said, cutting through the contemplative silence that had fallen between her and Melvin. “And I don’t know what to do.”

“You could start with an apology.”

“I feel like an apology isn’t enough for everything I’ve done.”

“Well, you should probably start somewhere.”

“You didn’t see the look she gave me.”

“Everyone gives looks. Looks can change.”

“And if she hates me?”

“I doubt you’ve dropped that far,” Melvin chuckled at Sophie’s dramatization. “Even Miller isn’t on that list.”

“So, you’re telling me that ignoring her for weeks, missing her birthday, her mom and sister’s death anniversary, and then insulting her character by blindly accusing her of hooking up with someone isn’t hate-worthy?”

“Well, when you make it a list like that - ow! Hey!” Melvin said, ducking at the notebook being hurled at him. “There are worse things you could do.”

* * *

Sophie paused outside the door. It had taken another hour to talk herself into making the trip down the hall. Dread filled every step she took as different scenarios played out in her mind. She stared at the aging veneer wood that clad the door. The muffled chatter of James and Kate’s voices could be heard through it. After a moment, she lifted her hand into a fist and let it rap against the door. She felt the wood absorb the sound, translating it into a sharp knock that echoed into the room beyond. Why she felt the need to knock on her own door, she wasn’t sure, but she waited, breath held, for permission from the other side to enter.

The muffled voices quieted for a moment before a cry that it was open could be heard through the hollow door. She hesitated for a second longer before bringing her hand to the knob and twisting it open. She walked in to find the two voices sitting on the couch playing a video game. The interruption was not taken kindly by James who had apparently been winning.

“Hey, can we talk for a minute?” Sophie asked before her nerves could stop her. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be with Melvin?” James asked critically, hitting pause on his controller.

“I-I can come back,” Sophie said, grateful at the chance to succumb to her fears and avoid the looming confrontation with Kate.

“Now is fine,” Kate said simply, glancing up from the game. Sophie searched her face to get a read, but Kate was always better at holding a poker face than her, and she couldn’t gauge how angry she was following on their argument. Sophie had spent Thursday and Friday sneaking glances at Kate in class hoping to catch a glimpse of her mood, but she felt even more in the dark from that. Instead of revealing anything, she was met with a stoic demeanor.

“Uhm, sure, ok. Er… James?” Sophie stuttered, wishing Kate had given her the chance to flee, but she also knew she deserved whatever was coming to her.

“Yea, we can talk,” James said, clearly not reading the room.

“She means you need to leave, bud,” Kate said, patting him on the back.

“And go where?” James gaped. Sophie considered cutting in and saying he could stay so there’d at least be a buffer between whatever onslaught might come from Kate.

“There are literally a million places you could go. You aren’t homeless. Go to your own room.”

“Fine. But we’re tallying this as a win for me,” James said, gesturing at the screen as he grabbed his bag.

“Sure. Now you’ve won once,” Kate teased dryly, watching him negotiate around Sophie to leave. 

She had never felt so uncomfortable in her own room, and with James’ absence came a renewed wave of uncertainty for Sophie. She glanced at Kate who was setting the controller aside and swallowed nervously.

“About the other morning, I-”

“Do you want a drink?” Kate asked a little too casually for Sophie’s expectations. 

“Uh… what? N-no, thanks,” she replied, her eyes narrowing slightly at the question, waiting for the catch.

“You sure?” Kate continued, busying herself with a glass and bottle.

“Wh- no, it’s fine,” Sophie said, disoriented by Kate’s words and actions. Sophie was barely prepared to have a simple conversation - she couldn't handle a mind game on top of that.

“You were saying?” Kate asked, pulling Sophie out of her thoughts.

“Oh... uhm, right. About the other morning… I just... I was way out of line, and - oh, thanks,” Sophie said, breaking from her train of thought again as Kate handed her a glass she didn’t ask for. She glanced between the glass and Kate, wondering briefly about Kate's agenda in offering it, but the moment she felt the weight of it in her hand she relaxed. She looked down at the soft caramel liquid swirling around in it realizing in handing her the glass, Kate was extending her an olive branch. She watched Kate lean against her own desk, her own glass casually hanging between the thumb and middle finger of her left hand.

“I was an ass,” Sophie said suddenly. “And I’m sorry. I’ve been a shitty friend-"

"Soph-"

"-and I missed your birthday-”

“It's-”

“-and I wasn’t there on the anniversary of your Mom and Beth’s-”

“Sophie. It’s fine.”

“No it’s not fine,” Sophie said more forcefully. Kate looked ready to interrupt, but the severity on Sophie’s face made her pause. 

Sophie had been afraid to confront an angry Kate. Or a frustrated Kate. Or an unreasonable Kate. She’d been ready to hear Kate say she wanted to change rooms, or to not be friends anymore, or to tell her to take a long walk off a short pier. She was ready for any and all of that, but now she was levelling with confronting an understanding Kate. It was unexpected, and she suddenly felt a need for Kate to understand how terrible she’d been. 

“It's not fine, Kate. Because even before that I was leaving you out to dry. I was doing that after you got us out of the situation with Miller; and I sidelined all of our plans to keep up the charade, and I missed important dates like your birthday, and I just stopped communicating, and then I accused you of cheating, and I’ve given you the cold shoulder for days while mulling everything over in my own head; and of course I don’t think you’re someone who would just go hooking up with people because you’re one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met, and I’m just - I got stuck in my own head and I don't know what I was thinking. I'm so sorry. You lost your cool for all of a minute and now you’re sitting here offering me… why are you smiling?”

“Cheating?” Kate said, a smirk keeping her from maintaining a straight face.

“What?”

“That’s what you said.”

“No I didn’t,” Sophie said, her cheeks erupting with warmth.

“Yes you did. You said, ‘and then I accused you of  _ cheating _ ’. Who was I cheating on, Soph?”

“I didn’t say that,” Sophie said in blind denial. She frantically ran through her memory trying to recall all she’d said.

“Ok - ok, you didn’t say it,” Kate said. “My bad.”

“Why are you doing this?” Sophie asked, disoriented by the entire conversation.

“Doing what?”

“This? Why… why are you being so nice?” Sophie asked. “Why aren’t you yelling at me or telling me to get out or… that I'm the worst friend or… I don’t know.  _ Something _ .”

“Do you want me to do those things?” Kate asked, her head crooked in curiosity. “Because that feels like a lot of work.”

“Well - no, not really," Sophie scowled slightly. "But I don’t feel like I should walk in after everything and have you hand me a drink like it's all fine.”

Kate watched Sophie and saw the pleading look on her face for something more forceful to match the punishment she thought was due. Kate brought her glass to her lips, taking in a sip and letting it settle on her tongue. She stared at the details of Sophie's face: her jaw set, her eyes filled with serious intensity, her slight scowl of confusion.

“I’ve missed you, Soph.”

“What?” Sophie asked, once again caught off guard.

Kate stared out the window for a moment, trying to find the words to elaborate her feelings. 

“I don’t like fighting with you  \- I don't  _ want _ to fight with you; it's the worst feeling to come back every night and know you aren’t here because of it. James is… fine, but he's not you," Kate continued. "Besides, I'm not exactly an innocent bystander. I've done my share of instigating and lack of communicating. And when you list it all off, not one of those things is worth fighting about. That doesn't mean it's all ok, and there are obviously some things we should talk about, but if given the option… I just don't want to argue anymore. I just - I’ve missed you.”

A slow realization washed over Sophie. There was something about how Kate could look past their conflict and find the heart of the problem that took Sophie by surprise. She’d spent so much energy trying to keep up appearances with Mevlin and constructing a story about Kate that she’d let blinders control the rabbit hole she’d burrowed into. She'd been so focused on the little things that had built up over the last few weeks that she'd lost sight of the one thing in all of it: she didn't want them to be this way anymore. 

“Kate… I…” Sophie began. She felt every wall she’d put up over the last few weeks come crumbling down. A well of emotions washed through her, and without giving it a second thought, she closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms tightly around Kate. “I’ve missed you, too.”


	7. Chapter 7

"Oh shit, Kate. I thought you just had a vespa?" Melvin said, his eyes wide in excitement.

Kate glanced over at Sophie shaking her head in disappointment as Sophie shrugged indifferently.

"It has two wheels."

"I have no words, Soph."

"I do!" Melvin continued, practically drooling over the bike. "How long have you had her?"

"Her?" Sophie mocked. "Melvin, I think Kate is the last person to-"

"Two years. She's my longest relationship," Kate cut in with a sly grin, her eyebrow flicking up briefly at Sophie’s surprised reaction.

“Where?”

“Bought her off a guy I went to high school with - he was heading off to college and couldn’t take it with him.”

“She’s a beauty. Just look at her body,” Melvin continued, playing up the bit as Sophie tried containing another eye roll.

"Fine. I'll leave you two to fawn over  _ it _ . I'll be inside because it's freezing,” Sophie said, rubbing her arms at the spring breeze blowing across the parking lot. “I still can't believe you drove this all the way from Gotham."

"I told you to bring a jacket, babe," Melvin called before catching himself. "Sorry. That… that was said out of forced habit."

Kate waved her hand to dismiss Melvin's comment and he took it as permission to continue drooling over the motorcycle.

"And he knows I hate it," Sophie muttered. "Such an awful name. He does it just to annoy me now."

"She's not wrong," Melvin whispered with a grin.

"I heard that!"

“Aren’t you cold or something?” Melvin called from behind the bike.

“Aw, you two even bicker like a couple,” Kate remarked, watching Sophie huff at her remark.

“She doesn’t make it hard,” Melvin continued.

“That’s-”

“-what he said. Yea, yea, I got it. Hilarious.”

“See you two inside,” Sophie said, her head shaking as a smile betrayed her mock annoyance.

“So tell me everything,” Melvin continued eagerly. “Actually, let me guess: ‘92?”

“Close - ‘93.”

“Obviously the 250 series from the labeling; 4 valve, air-cooled, five speed with a wet clutch. Top speed 72 mph -”

“I can get 75,” Kate winked.

“Damn. I was always fond of the candy gypsy red, but the black is such a classic. The GN400 always had a special place in my heart; you know they only made it between 1980 and”

“-and 82, yea,” Kate said with growing admiration for Melvin’s secret well of motorcycle knowledge.

“But 250 is great. I prefer the smaller body sizes anyway. Was she running when you got her? It looks like you’ve replaced the front suspension? Everything else seems…original?”

“Original, yea. I spent months fiddling with the suspension to try keeping the original, but ultimately it just needed replaced. The guy I bought it off didn’t give her much love.”

“What did you try?”

“Springs and oil.”

“Shims?”

“I considered it, but I was about to make a trip and just wanted her good to go.”

“Do it yourself?”

“Not a chance. I was such a noob when I got this. I tinkered with the springs and oil part, but I shopped out the full replacement.”

“Smart.”

“I didn’t realize you were so into this - had I known I’d have brought her up in the fall.”

“Had I known you had her, I’d have definitely pressured you into that.”

“You want to give it a go?”

“Oh… no, I couldn’t,” Melvin replied, quickly standing as though being near it was suddenly against the rules.

“Why not? At least take it for a spin around the parking lot,” Kate pushed.

“I-I don’t actually know how to ride one,” Melvin confessed.

Kate stared back in mild surprise. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

“But you just dissected the bike in less than a minute.”

“Right…”

“But you’ve never actually ridden one?”

“Well, no,” Melvin continued, looking ashamed.

Kate’s bewilderment slowly faded into an excited grin.

“What?” Melvin asked, unsure of how to read Kate’s expression.

“Cancel your plans with Sophie; you’re learning how to ride a bike today.”

* * *

“That was amazing!” Melvin gushed as they both barged into the dorm room. “Just… wow. I mean. I always imagined it would be amazing but… wow,” he continued before trailing off at a loss for words to express his enthusiasm. He turned his attention to Sophie who was smirking at Melvin’s boyish grin and youthful excitement. She imagined he sported a similar look as a kid on Christmas morning. “Sophie, Kate just taught me how to drive her bike.”

“I am aware,” she reminded him. He’d raced into the room three hours earlier to cancel their fake plans. Sophie barely had time to register his words before he bolted back out into the parking lot, leaving her alone for the afternoon. For a moment she realized what it must be like for Kate when she and Mevlin would go off for random nights on end.

It had been three weeks since they’d all made up, and in that time, they’d fallen into a familiar rhythm that relieved much of what had caused tension in the first place: Melvin and Sophie were able to appear close without Sophie sacrificing all her time to keeping up the farce. While her Mondays were dictated by her commitment to Irwin, the remainder of the week was more flexible and out of that came habit:

Sophie and Melvin would study together Tuesday nights while Kate was working with Miller and company on different drill skills. This would typically go until eight or nine and Sophie would spend the night in her and Kate's room.

On Wednesdays, Sophie and Melvin would go for a morning run. In the evenings, all four of them - James included - would either study together, catch a movie in the student union, or hang out in Sophie and Kate’s room; James and Melvin’s room wasn’t as well equipped with a couch or television. 

Even though he was older than all three of them, James had become an adopted little brother to the group which meant leaving him out of their plans wasn’t an option. It also helped that he knew Sophie and Melvin weren’t really together; this meant spending time behind the closed dorm door could be a relaxed occasion. 

On Thursdays, Melvin and Sophie would have their ‘date’ night. This usually meant dinner together and spending the night together. James would crash in 419 and Sophie in 403 - James and Melvin’s room. They selected places based on peer popularity. While eventually they might be able to sideline their dates altogether, for now they decided safe was better than sorry. It had also become a ritual that they ordered for each other. In doing this Sophie learned Melvin hated eggplant and was allergic to shellfish.

Friday nights were again either spent together as a group or going their separate ways: typically Melvin, James, and Kate would wander over to Wilfred Hall while Sophie took the opportunity to study in privacy. 

The weekends were less structured, but on this Saturday Melvin and Sophie were supposed to be studying together in the library. They had a big Physics test the upcoming Tuesday, and Sophie’s focus was on carving out time to study for that. Like Kate, Melvin wasn’t one for studying, but unlike Kate, he wasn’t interested in putting up with doing it for hours just to be near Sophie. That made his digression for the afternoon with Kate perfect timing for Sophie to focus on the last six weeks of material that would be on the test.

For Sophie this new lifestyle wasn’t a perfect solution, but it was working for the moment: everyone they knew was convinced Sophie and Melvin were the perfect couple; they never fought, worked well together, and seemed ‘involved’ enough in all the ways couples should be. Any rumor that Sophie and Kate were involved had quickly washed away, and this was reinforced when Martha confronted Kate a week earlier to apologize for believing Miller’s rumor. 

_ “Honestly, I don’t even remember if that’s what he actually said,” Martha confessed. “We had all been drinking and, well, Miller isn’t known for being a truthsayer five drinks in, am I right?” _

_ “Yea, Miller can be a loose cannon like that,” Kate said, forcing a chuckle in acknowledgement to keep the conversation light. _

_ “And to think, if that rumor had caught hold… I mean, you don’t think they actually expel people for being...  _ gay _ , do you?” Martha said, stepping closer to Kate as she finished her question in a low whisper. _

Kate had returned to the room after her conversation with Martha in such relief that Sophie realized for the first time how much stress Kate had been carrying over the whole thing. Just that morning Sophie had been weighing how long she needed to keep up the charade, but seeing how relaxed Kate was in knowing the ruse worked changed her mind. This would need to go on for a while longer before ‘ending things’ with Melvin was an option.

The biggest downside to her new schedule, aside from less time for studying, was the lack of one on one time with Kate. For her part, Kate had been completely understanding over the last three weeks by giving Sophie space to catch up on studies when she wasn’t with Melvin. This usually translated into one of two actions: either it meant diligently studying in silence next to her or leaving the room to give her quiet. In neither scenario did it actually mean hanging out.

“-and next time we’ll take her off campus?” Melvin continued.

Kate was smiling amused by Mevlin’s reaction as she nodded her head in agreement. This only sent him on a reenergized path of excitement that caught Sophie by surprise. She glanced at Kate who gave her a small ‘I’ll tell you later’ wave, granting Melvin the chance to continue down his imagined adventures. After another minute he finally calmed, though a small bounce in his step lingered as he finally mentioned something other than the bike.

He turned to Sophie who was waffling between giving the raucous her attention or returning to her studies. “I’m sorry I bailed,” he said, although exactly how sorry he was about this, Sophie couldn’t tell.

“Oh, like you were going to study anyway,” Sophie remarked. “You buzzing around campus on that little bike-”

“Hey-”

“Woa, Soph-”

“Whatever. It actually did me a favor; without you distracting me I got some real studying done.”

“That means you can take a break and grab dinner with us,” Melvin said cheerfully. “I want to change. Meet you in five?” he asked, and before either could respond he dashed out of the room. Kate couldn’t help but wonder if he secretly just wanted to go talk about the bike with James. She could already see James’ look of disappointment at dinner over not being invited to join them.

“You have much studying left?” Kate asked, looking to give Sophie an out from Melvin’s peer pressure if she wasn’t ready to be finished. “If yes, I can just grab you something.”

“Honestly, if I do one more practice problem my brain might explode.”

“So…?” Kate asked, still not sure what that meant. She didn’t count the risk of her brain exploding as reason enough for Sophie to stop studying. If anything, that sounded like a mild symptom compared to other times.

“That means ‘no’, I’m done for the day,” Sophie sighed, leaning back in her chair with a mix of satisfaction and forced relaxation. She didn't feel the most prepared, but any more studying at this point would be regressive.

“Woa. But the sun is still up,” Kate teased. “Food?”

Sophie glared in mock annoyance back before leaning forward out of her chair. She'd been sneaking study sessions in between and around her new schedule as Melvin's girlfriend which generally meant she was studying well into the night time. It had been an exhausting few weeks, and that she could take the night off was a godsend.

“Sure. You going out tonight?”

“Nah.”

“Woa. But it’s the weekend,” Sophie mocked back at Kate.

“Mhm," Kate waved dismissively. "A full day with Melvin took all the social out of me. It’s a wonder you’ve managed him this long.”

“I only half-listen to him half time.”

Kate laughed. “Smart.”

“So if you’re staying in…”

“And you’re done studying…”

“Catherine?”

“Chicago?”

"Popcorn or -"

"Definitely popcorn."

“Perfect.”

* * *

“Took you two long enough,” Melvin chastised as Sophie and Kate finally arrived in the lounge. As expected, James was with him and not looking too pleased at being left out in the day’s earlier festivities.

“Next time?” Kate said, immediately addressing the hurt look on his face.

James shrugged indifferently.

“And you get first dibs,” Kate added. This seemed to help as James smirked back in gratitude, but she knew it would be another hour and an ice cream sundae before he’d be back to himself. Kate had quickly discovered that the simple pleasures an eight year old craved were exactly what also put James right.

“What?!” Melvin exclaimed in protest. He quieted at Kate’s knowing look before setting the tempo in the direction of the cafeteria.

* * *

“All right team, we’ve got just under an hour,” Melvin said upon their return. “I expect everyone in ship-shape form, so no napping,” he said, his gaze directed at Kate.

All three of them stared confusedly back at Melvin. They had all been ready to go their separate ways, but Melvin's words had them racking their brains in search of their forgotten obligation.

“Sorry, what's in an hour?” Sophie asked for the group.

“Game-slash-movie night in the lounge?” Melvin said, his eyes widening with intensity. “Chelsea asked us earlier this week?”

“First I’m hearing of this,” Kate replied.

“What? Sophie, you were supposed to tell her,” Melvin complained.

“I totally forgot,” Sophie replied, suddenly annoyed with herself for the oversight. She glanced between Melvin and Kate, realizing with growing disappointment that her night in with Kate wasn't going to be. Over the last few weeks they had returned to their normal selves with the exception that they weren't hanging out nearly as much. For being roommates, it felt like they could go days without actually seeing each other. She had barely paid any attention to dinner's conversation as she counted down the seconds until her and Kate could split from Melvin and James to retreat into 419 for the night.  Her imagined plans of popcorn and Chicago were suddenly upended by her forgotten commitment to Melvin. She looked apologetically to Kate who was going through a similar thought process, albeit she kept a forced look of neutrality on her face. Sophie quietly cursed again Kate’s ability to keep a poker face while she struggled to not look disappointed in front of Melvin.

“Any interest in joining?” Sophie asked, hoping Kate could hear the apology in her voice.

“Uhm…”

“I’m in!” James interjected, feeling a part of the group again.

“Kate?” Sophie asked again, her eyes pleading in apology.

“I’ve actually already got plans.”

“Yea, that’s cool,” Sophie said, not challenging the lie. It wasn't like Kate joining in would have been the same as the two of them hanging out alone, but it still stung to think they wouldn’t be hanging out at all.

“Aw, come on Kate; you can cancel them. Who else could you possibly have plans with?” James joked.

“And besides, James needs a partner,” Melvin chimed in, unaware of the broken plans Sophie and Kate shared.

“Sorry?”

“Er, well… it’s sort of a couples-themed game and movie night,” Melvin clarified awkwardly. 

"Again?" James moaned.

“She’s making it a monthly thing… and I figured, you and James could, well…”

“Be a fake couple for the night? Yea, no, thanks. Hard pass,” Kate said, her mind suddenly made up. She could have reasoned tagging along for a harmless night of gaming, but knowing Chelsea was planning it, the last thing she wanted to sit through was a night curated around watching Sophie and Melvin play couple.

“What? But - but, what am I supposed to do?” James whined, feeling excluded for the second time in as many hours.

“Wait, couldn’t we just ask someone else? What about Martha? She might be down for some games?” Sophie cut in, only now remembering the entire conversation with Melvin from earlier in the week. Martha had been with them and was put off that she'd been excluded from the invite for 'being single.'

“And she’s cute,” James added eagerly, puffing up his chest in excitement.

“Perfect, I’ll ask her. James can be her fake boyfriend and Kate can keep her plans,” Sophie concluded. It wasn't ideal, but it was the least she could do for Kate since she was leaving her high and dry. 

Melvin stared at her curiously, unsure why she was suddenly so eager to be rid of Kate. 

“Well, that’s settled,” James concluded. “I’m going to find a clean shirt. Enjoy your ‘plans’ Kate!” he shouted, already half-sprinting down the hall in excitement.

Kate was also already making her way back to their own dorm, and Sophie was about to follow when Melvin’s hand found her arm.

“Hey,” Melvin said, making Sophie pause mid-stride. “You two ok?” he asked, nodding toward Kate’s receding form.

Sophie smiled at Melvin’s concern. He had become especially sensitive to anything related to her and Kate since the spring break incident.

“I forgot about Chelsea’s thing, and we had plans,” Sophie said simply.

“Oh, shit, I’m sorry. We can cancel - it’s not a problem,” Melvin quickly offered. As much as they both would have preferred not attending Chelsea’s shindig, they knew Melvin’s suggestion wasn’t an option; cancelling would raise suspicion - something they wanted to avoid at all costs. It would be even worse if it was discovered they bailed so Sophie could spend the evening with Kate. While they all felt comfortable that most people had disassociated Sophie from Kate, they weren't ready to risk it on something like this. Kate of all people would also understand that. 

“It’s ok; we’ll do it another time,” Sophie said, trying to reassure Melvin that everything was fine. The rest of the conversation wasn’t necessary as Melvin nodded in understanding.

* * *

"Hey," Sophie started once she'd returned to the room. She had stopped by Chelsea and Martha's room to propose their plan of matching Martha up with James. She excitedly agreed much to Sophie's relief and Chelsea's disappointment. 

_ "But it'll ruin the integrity of the whole night." _

"I’m sor-"

"It's fine. Really," Kate said simply. She was laid out on her bed doing exactly what Melvin warned her against just minutes prior, but now that she was in the clear, a nap wasn't out of bounds. 

"I'm sorry. I can't believe I forgot," Sophie said anyway, her own frustration spewing over. "I'd much rather hang out with you," she admitted.

Kate opened her eyes to see Sophie scowling in annoyance.

"Maybe I-"

"Soph, it's really ok. If you keep thinking like this you're going to use up the rest of your brain, and then Melvin will blame me when you lose tonight."

Sophie's annoyance faded to disappointment again. "I really am sorry. I barely even remember agreeing to this."

"You need a break," Kate observed. "You've been studying overtime. That plus putting on the Melvin-and-Sophie show every day and night, and tutoring Irwin -"

"It's not that much."

"You look exhausted."

"Well aren't you charming."

"I call it like I see it."

"I just have one of those faces."

"No you don't," Kate replied without thinking. 

Sophie glanced at Kate in surprise.

“I just mean-”

“I get it,” Sophie cut in, saving Kate the discomfort.

“You need a day off - from everything. Not just studying, or Melvin, or people - everything.”

“Once this physics exam passes-”

“That’s what you said about calc.”

“That was diff-”

“And lit.”

“There was a lot t-”

“I can go on like this for days, Soph," Kate continued, watching Sophie search for her next retort. "I'm not trying to start an argument with you. I'm just worried. I can't even remember the last time you got more than five hours of sleep, and my guess is Chelsea and Melvin are going to keep you out late, and you're still going to wake up at your normal hour to study tomorrow."

Kate was right. Sophie had already set an alarm for seven to be up the next morning bright and early so she could get a few hours of studying in before her and Melvin went for a midday hike. Hearing Kate's words made Sophie feel the heaviness of the last few weeks. She'd been doing well to push it down, but it was always a lingering weight of being over-strained.

"It's fine."

* * *

"And since some of the couples tonight aren’t actually couples, I’ve adjusted plans to something a bit more… platonic,” Chelsea said, shooting James and Martha a small scowl. “Ok, everyone has a glass?"

Seven voices ranging in excitement responded affirmatively. Sophie glanced down at the glass of cheap Boone's Farm, noting the artificial blue hue of the beverage. She glanced at Melvin who was sporting a bright green color in his. Chelsea had taken it upon herself to provide drinks for the night which included six bottles of the cheap wine, and unfortunately for everyone, the game for the night was a drinking one. 

They were all hunkered in the floor lounge. Chelsea being Chelsea, she had reserved the room for a private event which meant no one else was allowed to be in the space. The only good thing about that was that it meant surrendering the room at midnight. The night started at eight, and with any luck, they'd stop playing games by ten and move onto whatever movie Chelsea had planned.

"Great, does everyone know how to play?" Chelsea continued, looking around for nods of confirmation.

"I don't," Martha chimed in, much to Sophie's appreciation. She didn't want to be the only noob at a drinking game. She'd played once before, but alcohol wasn't involved, and she didn't know how different the rules were.

Chelsea sighed, annoyed that the festivities would be delayed. 

"It's pretty simple," Tony, Chelsea's boyfriend, began. "We all go in a circle and, one at a time, state something we've never done. If anyone in the circle  _ has _ done that thing, that person drinks. Make sense?"

"Uh…"

"Here, let’s just start, and you can learn as you go," Chelsea cut in. “Miller, you go first. It can be the one time you won’t have to drink.”

"Uhm, ok… never have I ever... gone skinny dipping,” Miller said after a moment.

"I thought you were supposed to say something you haven’t done before,” James chimed in with a scowl of confusion.

“I did.”

“What? No you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did”

“You skinny dipped last semester," James challenged.

“No I didn’t,” Miller countered. “I think I’d remember if I’d-”

“You lost a bet with a bunch of second years during welcome week about who could do the longest keg stand.”

Everyone in the room turned to Miller who was scanning his memory for the event before breaking into a smile, “Oh, yea, I did.”

The room broke into laughter, immediately shifting the mood to a more relaxed vibe.

“Miller, just Millered a game he was already going to lose,” Tony laughed. “Drink up, man.”

The first three rounds were fairly light as everyone gauged the room for how inappropriate things could get. 

“Never have I ever watched Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” James said, and three of the four females in the room raised their glass along with Melvin.

“Melvin!?”

“ _ Six sisters,  _ guys. You try growing up with six sisters and not finding yourself in a room with it on.”

“Sophie? What about you?” Chelsea asked, noting her nearly untouched glass.

“Uh, no, sorry. I don’t think I could even name any of them if I tried,” she apologized.

“Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, Kris,” Melvin chimed in, sending the room into a roar of laughter.

After nearly twenty minutes and two refills for Miller, Chelsea was the first to up the stakes.

“Never have I ever had a one night stand.”

Five drank.

“Never have I ever bought porn.”

One drank.

“Only me?” Miller remarked in surprise.

“It’s all free online, man,” James replied with a laugh.

“Never have I ever been dumped,” Melvin said.

Four drank.

“Sophie? You?” he asked in surprise. “I had no idea.”

“Wait, you two are dating and you’ve never talked about exes?” Martha remarked.

“Uh, well…”

“It just wasn’t a priority. Who dwells on the past?” Melvin replied coolly. “Sophie, you’re up.”

“Uh, ok. Right, uhm… never have I ever cheated on a test?” Sophie said quickly.

Six drank.

“Never have I ever kissed a dude,” Miller said with a smirk.

Four drank.

“That’s basically cheating,” Chelsea said.

“It’s fine, Chels,” Sam, Miller’s girlfriend, said with a wink. “Never have I ever kissed a chick.”

Four drank.

Sophie glanced around nervously as she kept her cup down. It was a silly game, and whether she was honest or not didn’t really matter, but a wave of anxiety left her uneasy that someone would tell she’d just lied. Unfortunately, this didn’t go unnoticed by Martha who was still eyeing her and Melvin curiously.

“Never have I ever lied at this game,” Martha said, breaking the cycle, her eyes on Sophie.

“Hey, Martha, it’s  _ my turn _ ,” James whined.

“We can come back to you,” Martha said. “Anyone?”

Three drank.

“I knew it!” Martha called out at Sophie.

Melvin stared nervously between Martha and Sophie, wanting to step in but unsure how.

“When did you lie?” Martha pressed.

“Martha, two others drank, too,” Melvin reminded her as all eyes turned to a very red Sophie.

“Yea, but I’m curious about Sophie. Her cup is still pretty full.”

“Uhm… it- it was in high school - the first time I played was at a birthday party,” Sophie began. “Someone said ‘never have I ever had a crush on Nathan Bentley,’ and I did, and he was right there, so I lied.”

“Aww, that’s so cute,” Chelsea interrupted. “Unrequited love is so beautifully tragic.”

“Babe, sometimes you’re a bit much,” Tony said. “It’s like all the wrong kinds of romantic.”

“Just because I can remember our anniversary doesn’t make me a bit much.”

“A six month anniversary is not a real thing.”

“Whatever,” Chelsea dismissed. “I still think it’s sweet. Did you two ever date?”

“Actually, yea.”

“And then he broke your heart,” Chelsea concluded on her own.

“Oh! Never have I ever been in love!” James interjected excitedly.

Four drank.

“See? What did I say? Oh, Sophie, we’ll talk about it more later,” Chelsea offered sympathetically.

“Yea, sure,” Sophie said, staring at her cup, stunned by her own actions. She was never in love with Nathan, and yet she felt compelled to drink. She glanced up and saw Melvin eyeing her, his silent question ringing in Sophie’s ears. She quickly averted her gaze, waiting to feel the weight of his stare leave her.

Fortunately that was the beginning of the end. Boredom of the game was setting in, and the cheap wine was running low - mostly thanks to Miller. It was shortly after this that Chelsea transitioned everyone to the movie of the night: When Harry Met Sally.

“What? Why, Chelsea, why?” Miller complained. “You picked a shit movie last time, too.”

“First, this is a classic, but also, Tony is picking next time,” Chelsea said with some resignation. This had clearly been a conversation before the night started.

“But you always add commentary,” Miller continued.

“Chelsea has promised to keep it to a minimum,” Tony said, “Right, babe?”

Chelsea huffed ambiguously as she prepared the movie. Everyone adjusted couches into theatre-like rows before settling in. Sophie checked the time, noting it was already nearly ten. At this rate, they’d be done by midnight which would mean one of two things: if Kate was awake, they could still hang out; if Kate was asleep, she’d be able to get nearly seven hours of sleep.

Sophie found herself with Melvin on their own couch. They fell into their normal couply appearance, waiting for the lights to turn off before they could adjust back into their own personal bubbles. The hardest part about ‘dating’ Melvin was that they both saw each other like a sibling. Melvin was an attractive, charming, funny, and caring person, and Sophie would be the first to defend him if prompted, but there was zero attraction as anything more between them, and that made pretending to be a couple a real challenge.

“You ever see this?” Melvin asked quietly as the opening credits rolled.

“Nope. You?”

“Yea. It’s not bad. I think you’ll like it,” he said lightly.

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Just watch it,” Melvin chuckled. “And no falling asleep.”

She took Melvin’s suggestion with a grain of salt. Sophie wasn’t keen on spending the next hour and a half in silent darkness, and she was struggling to hide her impatience with the situation. Her mind was wandering toward the following week’s exam as she regretted halting her studying so early in the day. She begrudgingly watched Harry and Sally fall in and out of each other’s lives, all centered around a hetero-normative belief that men and women cannot be friends. She glanced between Melvin and James, noting that they were two obvious examples that proved the hypothesis wrong. Granted, she was pseudo-dating one, but that was only because dating Kate wasn’t an option. 

She nearly jolted out of her chair when her thoughts landed on this idea. The very idea surprised her. She couldn’t date Kate. She had months of rationale to back that up, and she’d worked to suppress any notion of them being together. They would be the friends Harry and Sally couldn’t be.

She watched as Harry and Sally's lives overlapped again, this time eleven years after first meeting. Their attraction to each other is so obvious, and Sophie wondered why they don’t just accept fate. She nearly groaned as another fallout sent them separate ways, annoyed that romantic comedies always wrote characters who were so clearly meant for eachother reject that destiny for ninety percent of the movie.

At last the final scene arrived, and Sophie, still counting the second for it to be over, couldn’t help but cling to every word of Billy Crystal’s monologue as he professed his love for Sally:

_ “...I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” _

Sophie stared at the screen as the words sank in. There was a certain clarity that came with them. She had spent the entire night in a state of annoyance and frustration that she wasn’t with the one person she would put above anyone else, and she realized the only thing stopping her from that in this moment was herself.

“You ok?” Melvin whispered, noting Sophie’s change in posture.

“I’m sorry… I… I have to go,” she whispered back, nearly leaping from the couch. She sidled her way to the door, leaving Melvin and the others behind. The blinding fluorescent lights of the corridor forced her to pause momentarily as her eyes adjusted, but she felt rewarded with a new clarity. Without thinking, she trekked down the hall to her door and entered.

She paused again, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Kate was clearly burrowed under her blankets fast asleep, and Sophie hesitated for a moment before stepping forward and lowering herself to sit on Kate’s mattress.

The shift was enough to jar Kate awake, and she lifted her head confused by Sophie’s appearance.

"Soph? Wh-what's wrong? You ok?"

Sophie paused, half-annoyed at waking Kate when she was still trying to build her own courage. Her breath quivered slightly as she tried formulating her words.

“Hey, what's going on?" Kate asked, now on high alert.

“Real talk for a sec?”

“Sure, Soph,” Kate said quickly. “Is this about Melvin? Did something happen?”

"D-do you want me?"

The words rang through the room as Kate felt ripped awake by Sophie's question. She shifted to sit up in bed.

"Wh-what? What do you mean?"

"I want you, Kate."

Kate felt flushed listening to Sophie's words, half hoping she was still asleep. The dim street light flooding into the room did little to orient herself as time felt like it was moving both too fast and too slow to be real.

"Soph, where is this coming from?"

"I don’t want 'just friends' with you.”

"Have you been drinking?" Kate asked, grasping for an excuse to diffuse the conversation from going any further.

"What? No - well, yes, but it's not that."

“Soph, I- I don't know where this is coming from, but I think if you just sleep it off you’ll wake up tomorrow with a different opinion,” Kate said. She didn’t dare look at Sophie. She wanted to unhear her words. That she said them only made real what Kate both feared and wished for more than anything: that her want of a relationship with Sophie was mutual in a world where that want could ruin her future.

“No.”

“What?”

“I said no."

Kate gaped back at Sophie's silhouette, seeing the soft glow bounce off the conviction on her face. She had spent the entire semester avoiding this very conversation. She deflected time after time Sophie's subtle references, playing dumb at every turn, but now, Sophie was bluntly saying what neither of them had the courage for months to articulate.

"Soph… I… I really think we should discuss this another time. Maybe not in the middle of the night. Maybe when you've had a chance to think about what you're saying.”

"You don’t think I’ve done that? That this hasn't been on my mind for months? That even before we kissed it wasn't there? What do you think this entire semester has been?” Sophie asked rhetorically, clinging to her growing courage.

“Soph, I-”

“I want you, Kate. I want this - and not just as a friend. This isn’t a passing feeling, and I’m not going to wake up tomorrow thinking any differently. And yes, I already know all the reasons not to do this, but... I don't care about that, because I stare across the room every night thinking about how much I wish I wasn't on the other side of it without you, and I’m done pretending otherwise."

Kate felt her own composure waiver. She didn’t understand why of all the days, the nights, the hours Sophie chose this moment to say these things. Part of her was screaming to stop the conversation; she was terrified by the certainty in Sophie's voice when Kate had spent months trying to establish the exact opposite between them. Every reason to not act on her feelings was finding its way to the tip of her tongue. 

But next to that concerned part was a part that clung to every word Sophie was saying. She'd avoided talking about that night in December for this very reason: she wanted Sophie, but she knew she couldn't have her. Her brain and heart were in a battle of wills, and the longer they sat in the dark, the closer her brain came to losing.

"Sophie, look," Kate said, her voice shaking as she began to weave another untruth. "I just don't… I’m flattered. It -it isn't the same for me." Kate felt her throat tighten as the words fell out of her mouth.

Silence echoed as a ton of bricks fell onto Sophie's chest. Her entire world was crumbling at the power Kate's few words of rejection had. This wasn't what she expected. 

"Oh."

"I'm so sorry," Kate rushed, her tone full of apology. "I-I didn't-"

"It's fine,” Sophie heard herself say as she stared into the dark, the edges of Kate’s features blurring out of focus. “Good to know, right?" Sophie forced, quickly lifting herself from Kate's bed. She couldn’t look over at Kate. She could be upset after she’d left, but until then she needed to keep her composure, and that meant not glancing back at Kate.

Kate remained silent at this, stirring in her own disappointment as Sophie moved toward the door.

“I - uh, I’ll probably just crash at Melvin's,” she said, reaching for the door. Her hand felt both weak and frantic to leave the room. A part of her wanted to argue - to stay and fight, but she knew none of it would matter: Kate made her feelings clear. She finally felt the latch release and saw the bright glow of the hallway lights creep around the edges as it swung open.

Sophie was met with the faint memory of all those months ago in December when the glow from the door met with it the same fate as that night: a thrill of emotions followed by it all suddenly being ripped away. A wave of sadness hit Sophie and as she drew it open she realized all of her hopes had dwindled at Kate’s words. 

It was only then that she felt the resistance against the door. Just as quickly as the light broke around the frame, it disappeared, and she registered the sound of the door relatching in place.

“Soph, wait,” came Kate’s voice from behind her. She turned back toward the sound and was met by a [warm sensation pressed softly against her lips] set of tender lips on hers. She barely had time to register what was happening before it was over. Kate pulled away from Sophie, and she stared back into the dark, seeing Kate’s bright eyes glowing with tears glistening in them.

"I lied."

"Wh-"

"I want you, Soph. I've wanted you from the moment we met."

Kate's words barely registered for Sophie who was still trying to recover from Kate's wordless action seconds earlier. Her heart was racing and she felt flushed by the sudden change in events. This had to be a dream; less than a minute ago, she had been outright rejected, and now it felt like she was staring at a completely different Kate. This Kate wasn't a stoic poker face of logic; she was full of raw, unbridled emotion. Sophie saw both hope and fear in Kate's eyes, and it felt like she was experiencing the full Kate for the very first time.

"And I'm scared," Kate admitted, revealing the fear Sophie saw. "I don’t want something bad to happen. Because if the wrong people find out…" Kate paused, sensing she was about to talk herself back.

"I know. And I know you've got a million reasons t-" she said, interrupted by Kate's lips for the second time. This one lasted longer, and Sophie felt a warmth inside her as Kate grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer. There was a quiet need behind Kate's grip - as though letting Sophie finish her sentence might break the spell and they'd realize their mistake in doing this. Like the first, this kiss also ended too soon, but it had done the trick: Sophie was left speechless.

"We'll figure it out, Soph," Kate said, tamping down her fears. A jolt of joy rushed through her as she brought her shaking hand up to Sophie's cheek, a smile breaking across her lips.

"What?" Sophie asked, noting the change in Kate’s demeanor.

"I like this kissing thing."

It was Sophie's turn to break into a smile.

“We're really doing this?" she asked aloud, almost not believing it.

"Yea. We're really doing this."


	8. Chapter 8

Sophie opened her eyes, taking in the view of the dorm room from an unfamiliar angle. Everything about the space was the exact same as it had always been, except she was looking at it from the other side. Normally the first thing she'd see in the morning was the burrowed form of Kate under her blankets - the very blankets she was now under. Feeling the weight of Kate's arm placed snugly around her waist was the last piece of evidence she needed to prove last night wasn’t a dream.

Their conversation had quickly devolved into a heated make out session. She glanced around the room, noting the path of destruction; a memory of being pushed against her dresser was made obvious in the daylight by all of the items on top of it out of their usually pristine alignment. She also noted Kate’s desk was half empty with a number of objects strewn about the floor. Sophie couldn’t quite recall when, but at some point they had landed on Kate’s bed. Kate’s hands were expertly navigating Sophie’s body, and it was only when they began wandering between her legs that Sophie’s self-awareness returned. She froze at Kate’s touch, an unexpected discomfort flooding her. For her part, Kate read this and reacted in kind.

_“Is it ok if we…”_

_“Totally, yea,” Kate rushed, pulling away. “I shouldn’t have… I- I’m sorry.”_

_“I’m sorry,” Sophie said before falling silent, washed with guilt for ruining the moment. Kate slowly lowered her lips to Sophie’s again, taking them into a gentle kiss. It was a different kind of passion, and Sophie was pulled into its tenderness._

_“I’m glad you said something,” Kate said softly, breaking the kiss._

_“Really?” Sophie said, unable to contain her surprise._

_A smile broke across Kate’s lips, “Why the surprise?”_

_Sophie stared into Kate’s eyes and noted there was a genuine curiosity in them. They were also full of understanding and warmth._

_“It’s just that you are… I mean, I just - I’ve never done..._ it _with anyone before,” Sophie murmured softly. She felt embarrassed saying it to Kate who was clearly more experienced than her._

_“You know that’s not something to be ashamed of, right?” Kate asked, adjusting herself to lay next to Sophie on the small bed._

_“I… I guess?” Sophie replied, a small scowl furrowing her brow. She glanced at Kate who was smiling back at her. “What?”_

_“Nothing,” Kate replied, shaking her head slightly, but Sophie's gaze didn't waver. “I like you,” she admitted after a moment._

_“Even though I just ruined the moment?”_

_“Especially because you ruined the moment,” Kate teased back as she wrapped her arm over Sophie, pulling her close. A small smile broke across Sophie's lips. Kate gazed at Sophie's silhouette in the dark, taking in the warmth of her being so near. “And I don't want to do anything… We can take it slow. And if there’s ever a point where you want to talk about anything or you feel ready to take the next step… And if it feels like I’m pushing you into anything, tell me - I don’t want you to feel pressured.”_

_Sophie turned to look at Kate, her eyes glowing with a protective concern back at her._

_"Thank you," she whispered, a surge of comfort and happiness filling her._

“I can hear you thinking,” Kate muttered from behind her, breaking Sophie from her thoughts. She felt Kate use her arm to pull closer to Sophie, mimicking the night before and removing the fractional distance between them. The cold sensation of Kate’s cold nose resting against her shoulder blade followed by a warm set of soft lips caused a smile to dance across her mouth as she chuckled lightly.

“Sorry about that.”

“S’ok,” Kate murmured into Sophie’s skin. “Just keep it down.”

Sophie shifted, rotating to face Kate, a surge of excitement at their proximity filling her. Kate’s eyes opened and revealed the same excitement. Being so near to her… everything just felt so right that Sophie wondered how they lasted this many months without it.

“You’ve been awake for a while,” Sophie remarked, noting how wide and aware Kate’s eyes were. If there was one thing Sophie had garnered from living across the room all year, it was that Kate was not a quick riser.

Kate shrugged indifferently. “A bit.”

It was only then that Sophie left their bubble and noted the amount of sunlight shining into the room. What followed was a small wave of anxiety that shot through her. “Wait, what time is-”

“I, er, I turned off your alarm,” Kate admitted, cutting Sophie off.

"You wh-" Sophie opened her mouth to argue but was quickly cut off again by Kate’s lips.

“I’m sorry. You’ve just been so overworked, and you looked so peaceful, and… and I didn’t want you to leave," she reasoned, her fingers tightening lightly around Sophie's waist.

Sophie glared into Kate’s apologetic face. “That may be the worst argument...” Sophie began but trailed off, her scowl softening into a small smile. Kate was typically logical in her reasoning, but her response wasn't based on that. Sophie knew there was a sentimental side to Kate - she had experienced it a handful of times over the last year - and now it was on display again. 

Kate waited for Sophie to decide if she was angry or not. She was quickly given her answer when Sophie leaned forward, letting her lips brush against Kate's.

"You're lucky you're a good kisser," Sophie muttered before pressing them fully against Kate's.

Sophie found herself sliding closer to Kate, their limbs beginning to entangle into each other as they deepened the kiss when a small knock at the door made them freeze.

"Sophie? You in there?"

" _Shit_ ," Sophie whispered, suddenly remembering she had abandoned Melvin and company the night prior. She leapt out of the bed in panic.

"Soph, it's fine. It's just Melvin," Kate quickly reasoned, trying to temper Sophie's panicking, but Sophie noted there was a slight edge to Kate's tone at the surprise knock.

"Sophie?" came Melvin's voice through the door.

Sophie reached for the door, opening it partially to greet him.

"Hey, Melvin," she rushed, her breath uncontrolled.

"Sleeping in, I see.”

“What?”

“Mattress face. Cute pjs by the way; how come I never get to see those?" Melvin remarked of Sophie's attire of tank top and shorts.

"Er…"

"Feeling better?" he asked casually but with all the concern a fake boyfriend should carry.

"Uh…"

"I told you not to eat the spinach," Melvin continued as though Sophie not knowing her lines wasn't impacting the performance. "Chelsea and James were pretty worried when you bounced, but I told them it was just a stomach thing. Do you want me to get you some broth or anything?"

"Oh, uh, no - no, that's… that's ok. I'm much better now."

"Good, good," Melvin said, leaning back on the balls of his feet. He glanced to his left and right to check that the hall was clear before leaning in with a lowered voice. "Maybe next time, mess up your bed before answering the door," he said, nodding over Sophie's shoulder at her perfectly made bed. "Small details, yea?" He winked. "Tell Kate 'hi' for me."

“I… the couch, uhm,” Sophie blushed deeply at this as she watched Melvin back away from the door.

"I think we should play it safe and postpone our hike. I don't want you over-exerting yourself if you aren't one hundred percent," Melvin said at a normal volume.

Sophie mouthed a thank you at him as he nodded back, unable to contain his own smile. "I'll message you later. Get some rest, yea?" He said with another wink.

Sophie quickly closed the door, latching it back in place.

“Did you just try to lie to Melvin?” Kate asked from her bed. She was sitting up, her back against the wall as she listened in on the exchange.

“I panicked,” Sophie said, her heart still racing from the surprise visit. “Maybe we should…” she began. The glow of the night before began waning as the reality of what they were doing crashed down on her. “I think-”

“Soph,” Kate began cautiously, reading Sophie’s face and tone. “It’s - it’ll be fine. We can take it one thing at a ti-”

“What if we get caught?” Sophie asked, not hearing a word Kate was saying. “That could have been anyone. I’ve… my parents. Kate, I’ve - I’ve never done anything like this… I… if they find out. If anyone finds out...”

“We’ll take it slow,” Kate said, sliding off the bed to cautiously approach Sophie. She was doing her best to keep her tone level, but there was a small spike of hesitation she couldn’t contain. Sophie’s worries were warranted; they were the same ones that had kept Kate silent for so many months. It wouldn’t surprise Kate if Sophie spiraled herself into abandoning everything, but after last night, Kate knew she didn’t want to go back to something less.

“Taking it slow doesn’t change the fact if something happens - if… Kate, what if this was a mistake? What if…”

“Soph…” she began, unsure how to temper Sophie’s concerns. “I don’t want to push you into anything,” she said, echoing her words from last night. “And if… I think we can figure it out, but if you aren’t sure or-or aren’t ready…”

Sophie paused, her face racing with all of the thoughts running through her head. 

“I don’t know,” she admitted.

“Ok.”

The words landed harder than Kate expected. She took a step back from Sophie. It wasn’t that Kate couldn’t wait for Sophie to decide, it was that she was worried she would never be Sophie’s choice.

“What do you need from me?” Kate asked, hitting pause on her own internal devastation. “Do you need space, or time, or… or something else?”

“I just wish…” Sophie said, closing her eyes to shut out the voice in her head. She felt her own disappointment growing. It was a disappointment in herself. Her conviction from the night before had collapsed, and every fear and concern that had kept her feelings sidelined for months was creeping back. She saw the hurt her indecision was having on Kate, and it sent her into a second wave of disappointment. The idea of dating another woman required so much more courage than she had to give, and she found herself frustrated that things would be so much easier if Kate weren’t Kate.

When she opened her eyes again, Kate was still there, but the distance between them had increased. As she looked into Kate’s eyes she noticed they weren’t carrying the typical stoicism. Instead there was a fear. Sophie had never known Kate to be afraid, but there it was as clear as day. It was another first.

Somehow she knew one sentence from her was all Kate would need to step back fully and pretend the last twelve hours had never happened, but Sophie wasn’t sure she was prepared to do the same. Before she could formulate her thoughts into words, Kate chimed in with a white flag:

“You’re probably right. I… it would be a huge risk. If we got caught, or-”

“Kate, no, wait,” Sophie interrupted. Kate’s mouth closed obediently, watching for a silent moment as Sophie continued her internal monologue until finally: “This is dumb.”

Kate hesitated, unsure whether to respond or not.

“This is dumb, right?”

“I… I think I need more context,” Kate replied cautiously. 

“I’m being dumb.”

“I don’t think-”

“I want this. A-and you want this.”

Kate didn’t respond. Instead she watched Sophie curiously, unsure if she was really hearing right.

“Right?” Sophie asked, her eyes turning to Kate.

“I mean, I don’t - I can’t speak for you, but… but yea, I want this,” Kate replied.

“Ok.”

“Ok?”

“Ok… let’s - let’s do it.”

“Are you sure?”

“No,” Sophie admitted. “Honestly, no, I have no idea. I have no idea if this will be the best or worst decision of my - our lives… and - but if you can… I can’t even promise this won’t be the last time I freak out about it-”

“Which is fine - I… honestly, I was freaking out about it earlier this morning.”

“Really?” Sophie asked, almost sighing in sudden relief at Kate’s comment.

“Yea, while you were asleep. Soph, there’s a lot that could go wrong, but I think if we just take it one day at a time-”

“Right, right, we can take it slow,” Sophie reasoned. “But, Kate, are you ok with this?”

“What did I just say?”

“I just mean about it being well, it being a secret. It’s not like we can kiss on the quad. And… well, honestly I’m terrified to tell my parents.”

Kate smirked. “Soph,” she began, breaking the stalemate and closing the space between them. “One day at a time, remember? Besides, if I get you out of it, I think I can live with this being a secret.”

* * *

“There’s practically no hot water in this place,” Sophie said, entering the room.

“That’s because you shower in the morning when everyone else does. If you showered at nig-”

“Yea, yea, shower at night,” Sophie interrupted. “Not all of us are fine-tuned to function without a morning splash.”

“That’s what coffee…” Kate said, trailing off at the sight of Sophie.

“What?”

“What? Oh, uhm, that’s what coffee is for,” Kate replied quickly, jolting herself with a shake of her head before averting her gaze back to her phone. 

Kate waited for Sophie to turn her attention to the closet before risking another glance over, affording herself the opportunity she'd avoided for the better part of the year. That Sophie returned clad only in a towel was nothing new, but it was the first time Kate didn’t feel wrong for stealing a look. Her imagination took hold as she absorbed every detail: how her shoulders lay exposed, how the single piece of fabric sat low enough to reveal her collarbones and sat folded into itself just over her breasts before falling down the length Sophie's body, accentuating her hips and stopping just above her knee; how it was the only layer separating Kate's eyes from the skin beneath. Kate felt a warmth stir inside of her as she imagined sliding her hands beneath the towel, allowing it to drop to the ground to reveal every inch of soft skin under it.

"Kate?"

"Hm?"

"I asked if you were hungry."

"What? Food? I-I can, yea, food," Kate choked. "I could eat."

Sophie stared quizzically back, an amused smile on her face. "You ok?"

"Yea, yep," Kate rushed, jumping up from her seat. "I'll, uh, I'll run to the mess hall - see what I can snag."

"Oh, but if you wait a second I can change an-” 

“You're supposed to be sick,” Kate reasoned quickly, not trusting herself if Sophie changed in front of her.

“Er… I mean, I just showered… in a public bathroom… where there were other people-”

“Soph.”

“Sure, ok,” Sophie surrendered, eyeing Kate suspiciously. “But can you grab me a coffee?"

"Yep," Kate replied, suddenly very concentrated on anywhere in the room but Sophie. 

"Thanks. With a splash-"

"A splash of milk, got it," she continued knowingly as she grabbed her shoes and, before getting them fully on, scurried out of the room.

* * *

"Well, well, well. I'm surprised to see you," came a voice to her left. "Where’s your other half? I figured you two would be burrowed away in your own little-"

" _Melvin_ ," Kate hissed, glancing around suspiciously as Melvin slid up next to her at the salad bar.

"It's fine, I already checked: no one's listening," he said easily. "Recharging? Food for later? Good call," he continued, teasing as Kate ladled spoonfuls of salad toppings into a takeaway container.

Her cheeks burned with unfamiliar embarrassment at Melvin's words. 

"I didn't know you blushed," Melvin remarked, seeing the red glow on her face. "Look, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to…"

Melvin stared at her expectantly, but Kate remained silent, studying the dozens of salad dressings available to her.

"Are… are you not going to tell me?" Melvin asked, his disappointment clear.

"Nope."

"Really? Not even… not even a teaser trailer?"

Kate finally glanced up, an uncontrollable smile betraying her attempted stoicism. "I feel like you got enough of a teaser this morning."

"Aha! I knew it," he grinned excitedly. They both glanced around to make sure Melvin's enthusiasm didn't draw any unwanted attention before he continued. "So is it like, official? What happened? She just left out of nowhere last night, and… and I had a feeling, but… Kate, I'm so happy right now. I'm being cheated on, and I'm so happy about it," Melvin gushed, his smile nearly wider than Kate's.

Kate shrugged her shoulders, her face falling as she thought about it. "Honestly? I barely remember what happened. I was asleep and - and then there she was just…" she said, trailing off as she returned to the night prior: Sophie's honesty, Kate almost ruining it, Sophie's lips, Kate's hands on her… A smile returned at the memory. "We’re still kind of figuring it out… but, yea, I think you could say it's official," she said finally.

* * *

"I didn't know what to get-"

"So you got everything?" Sophie smirked back, seeing the boxes of options in Kate's arms as she stumbled into the room. 

"Well…"

"Where's the kitchen sink?" Sophie continued teasing as she helped relieve Kate of the food.

"It's still in the lobby."

"Coffee?" Sophie asked, observing not one of the containers was cup-shaped.

"Oh, shit," Kate realized. "I-I'll be right back."

"Don't worry, I'll get it-"

"No, no, you stay. It'll just be a minute," Kate rushed.

“Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Sorry, I just - I ran into Melvin and got distracted. Four minutes, I promise,” Kate said, giving Sophie a small peck on the cheek before bolting again.

“You-” Sophie began before the slam of the door cut her off. “... forgot your keys,” she finished, shaking her head in amusement.

Seconds later a knock at the door sent her into a chuckle as she grabbed the bunch of metal off of Kate’s bed.

“You know,” she said, pulling the door open, “if you weren’t such a good kisser-Chelsea!”

“Hey Sophie!” Chelsea said. “If I wasn’t such a good kisser?”

“Sorry, I - I thought you were, uhm, Melvin,” Sophie lied.

“Oh, I just saw him in the mess hall. Did he stop by?” Chelsea asked.

“Uh, yea, he dropped off some food.”

“Oh, that boy. He is such a catch. But aren’t those Kate’s?” Chelsea asked, pointing the set dangling from Sophie’s fingers.

“Oh, yea… you’re right,” Sophie said. “Must’ve grabbed them by mistake. D-did you need something?”

Chelsea blinked as though only just remembering why she’d knocked. “Yes, oh! Just checking to make sure you’re feeling better. You left so quickly last night - we were all super worried. I was annoyed when Melvin didn’t go check in on you.”

“He… we texted. It was fine. I wasn’t exactly in any shape for-”

“But that’s what boyfriend’s are for,” Chelsea reasoned. 

“Yea… I’ll remember that for the next time I get food poisoning,” Sophie tried to joke.

* * *

“So, physics?” Kate asked, waving her book in the air.

“Oh, sure, we could do that,” Sophie replied with some surprise from the sofa.

“What?” Kate asked, a level of wonderment in her voice at Sophie’s lack of immediate agreement.

“I was thinking that maybe today we sort of just… hang out?”

“Hang out?” Kate replied, the idea of just ‘hanging out’ with Sophie felt foreign. “But won’t physics be upset?”

“What?”

“That you’re cheating on it,” she teased as she collapsed on the couch next to Sophie. “So, tell me, how does Sophie Moore ‘hang out’?”

“You ever play backgammon?”

* * *

"She's alive," Kate muttered softly as the body laying on her stirred. They were only thirty minutes into the movie when Sophie dozed off. Kate spent the next hour glancing between the screen and Sophie's sleeping form pressed against her, feeling a renewed wave of luck each time she looked down and saw she was really there. 

A small sigh came from Sophie as Kate felt her stretching slightly before curling into Kate again.

"Oh, I missed my favorite part," Sophie muttered.

"We can go ba-" Kate began, starting to get up. Instead Sophie's grip tightened around Kate.

"No," she said simply. It was all Kate needed to stay put next to her. "It's fine," Sophie said, smiling up at Kate. "Besides, I'm the one who fell asleep."

"I know. You passed out before we got past the exposition," Kate chastised mockingly.

"Well it's your fault for being so warm," Sophie explained.

“This might be a new record for you,” Kate remarked with a chuckle.

“For what?”

“Sleep in a day. You’re usually running off what, four hours? You’ve practically tripled that today.”

Sophie gave Kate a small scowl of disagreement. “It’s a reliable six.”

“If you say so.”

“Food?”

“It’s like you’re a toddler: sleep, food, sleep, food, sl-”

“Don’t forget the ten games of backgammon you got creamed in.”

“ _Eight_. Plus the first two were practice rounds.”

“Nope, I skunked you twice. Those count for double wins each.”

“I don’t think that’s a real rule.”

“You calling me a cheater?”

“No, I’m calling me a sore loser,” Kate waved dismissively. 

They fell silent as the remaining seconds of the movie ran down before the credits rolled.

“What’s your favorite part?”

“The pasta scene.”

“Huh?”

“When Aaron Eckhart gets the little girl to eat pasta.”

“But…”

“But?”

“Catherine isn’t in that scene.”

“Yes she is.”

“Wh-nuh-uh.”

“She’s at the beginning and end of it. It’s the first time her hard exterior breaks. She isn’t trying to stay tough. It’s sweet. Reminds me of you a bit,” Sophie admitted. “Plus, it always makes me hungry for spaghetti.”

Kate broke out into laughter at this. “I had the exact same thought. Too bad the mess hall makes trash pasta.”

“Hmm,” Sophie replied lightly, her tone registering Kate’s deflection. They watched the credits in another round of silence - the screen illuminating the dark room.

“Do we need rules?” Sophie asked suddenly.

“What?”

“For this,” Sophie began. “I was just thinking, and I guess I don’t know what _this_ is, you know? Like, we’re roommates, and friends, and dating but not because we can’t, but we are… and I’ve got a… a Melvin.”

“A merkin.”

“What?”

“It’s called a merkin.”

“What is?”

“Melvin.”

“I don’t understand.”

Kate laughed. “Men have beards, women have merkins,” she explained casually. “He’s your fake boyfriend so you can hide your orientation from others.”

“I’ve never heard of a merkin.”

“It’s probably for the best,” Kate grinned back.

“Ok, fine, but it doesn’t answer my question,” Sophie said, remembering her original train of thought. “How… what is _this_?”

Kate paused for a moment in thought before continuing. “ _This_ is still us, Soph. Except now… now I get to kiss you every morning and cuddle you every night. Now I get to tell you how sexy that grey dress makes you look or that… that the only reason I ever study is so I can be near you."

“How Catherine of you,” Sophie remarked lightly at Kate’s honesty.

“I wasn’t… it’s - that’s not-”

"But wait… you don't like studying?" Sophie asked, reading Kate’s discomfort with a pivot.

"I mean, it’s not my favorite thing..." Kate said, glancing down at Sophie to see her grinning mischievously back.

"Even blind monks in Thailand know that."

"Then how come you never said anything?" Kate accused.

"Same reason you didn't," Sophie reasoned. "I liked you being around, too."

Kate grinned back, realizing they'd both been fighting the same feelings for months.

"So the grey dress?" Sophie added lightly.

"Is a keeper," Kate said, her cheeks warming slightly.

"Hm."

"Hm?"

"I didn't realize you… I guess I just didn't realize. I'll have to get the zipper fixed."

"Realize what?"

"That you paid attention to that stuff."

Kate paused, unsure how honest to be. “I-I noticed, Soph. You are… it’s… you’re hard not to notice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all,
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this latest installment.
> 
> When I started the 'Curiouser + Curiouser' work, I realized I wanted to know more about Kate and Sophie's time at Point Rock. The first season of Batwoman had teased us with flashback scenes, and I took those as the foundation for 'Point Rock, Part I'. This resulted in the beginning of the 'Becoming Batwoman' series. The focus of this first piece was as a sequence of one-off story-lines. It gave me the chance to develop Kate and Sophie as characters, and hopefully that has also translated into a fuller experience when reading the main work. Once I felt comfortable in who they were, I wanted to use 'Point Rock, Part II' to delve a bit more into a continuous story-line that provided incremental progress toward how Kate and Sophie finally got together. As said before, I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, please be on the look out for other works in the series. I know for me there's still plenty to explore.
> 
> Cheers,  
> EQT.95


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